от Fredi » 29 Окт 2009 00:57
Christmas travel misery fears as BA staff threaten strike action
Holidaymakers could face travel misery this Christmas if British Airways cabin crew go ahead with a vote for industrial action.
Nine months of negotiations broke down yesterday, and the Unite union has called for the 14,000 BA cabin crew to vote on whether to strike.
If they vote in favour, services could be crippled from early December as rolling strikes ground planes in the run up to Christmas.
The stand-off has come as British Airways tries to change crew working practices, freeze pay and formalise redundancies.
The loss-making airline said earlier this month that it would cut the equivalent of 1,700 staff in Britain, and is planning a two-year freeze on basic pay for cabin crew.
It is seeking to cut costs to help cope with volatile fuel prices and increased competition from low-cost airlines. The airline posted a loss of £401million last year.
More than 1,000 cabin crew will be offered voluntary redundancy and a further 3,000 will move to part-time work.
The reduction in staff will also see senior crew members joining the food service teams to compensate for the shortage of numbers.
BA's chief executive Willie Walsh told The Times that he could not rule out the possibility of further compulsory redundancies.Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of Unite, said in a statement: 'BA management's determination to impose unacceptable contractual changes on cabin crew leaves us no alternative.
'Negotiation, not imposition, is the only proper way to conduct industrial relations.'
BA said it was disappointed by the decision to hold a ballot, but stressed the changes to staff contracts will go ahead as planned from 16 November.
'We have put together a package of changes, which despite the unprecedented financial circumstances facing the company, not only protects current cabin crew but also offers many new benefits,' the airline said in a statement.
'We have made it clear that there will be no change to the individual terms and conditions of our current crew. They will not take a pay cut. In fact some 75 percent of crew will receive a pay scale increase worth between two and seven per cent this year, and again next year.'