BA strike: new offer on table, strike ballot postponed
BA strike: new offer on table, strike ballot postponed
Unite, the trade union representing 11,000 British Airways cabin crew, has offered to postpone a strike ballot which was set to begin tomorrow. (Tuesday 29 June).
The strike ballot would have paved the way for airport closures, flight delays and flight cancellations throughout the busy summer holiday season in August.
It may now take several weeks to consult nearly 11,000 cabin crew and if the offer is rejected and Unite members decide to press ahead with industrial action it is not likely to be until September or October that this happens, according to the Daily Mail.
Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley, said: "As a consequence of the company’s last and final offer the union and its representatives will have no choice but to delay our vote in order to allow our members to consult on the offer.
"The company has made it clear that the offer on the table will be removed if the strike ballot starts on Tuesday. It would be therefore be inexplicable if we did not put this offer to our members, and I expect this course of action will be confirmed by our cabin crew representatives when they meet tomorrow."
BA’s offer includes two years of guaranteed rises in basic salary. But Unite says it is not in a position to recommend the BA proposal to members because it does not fully reinstate staff travel arrangements removed from crew who took lawful industrial strike action in March and May.
Tony Woodley added: “The fact that staff travel arrangements have not been restored to thousands of crew prevents this offer from BA being the breakthrough everyone seeks.
"Failure by BA to restore travel in full means the possibility of a recommendation nil and makes acceptance of the offer uncertain.”
The consultative ballot on BA's new proposal could begin this week, adds Unite.
The dispute has so far cost BA at least £150 million. In a statement, BA said: “We welcome this statement from the Unite leadership. We believe our offer is fair and reasonable and provides a genuine opportunity to end this dispute.”
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28 June 2010
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