| British Airways says flights would continue even if cabin crew strikes |
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04/03/2010 17:25 (710 Day 06:03 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- BA assured passengers flights would continue even if a threatened cabin crew strike goes ahead.
According to Guardian, the airline signalled its readiness for a lengthy walkout by lining up 1,000 volunteer flight attendants and a fleet of chartered jets to maintain services during industrial action.
The same source reports that Willie Walsh, the chief executive, told staff yesterday that BA was "as prepared as we can be" for a strike that could come as soon as next week if peace talks with the Unite trade union break down. Representatives at Bassa, Unite's cabin crew branch, will discuss strike dates and lengths on March 4 after a source close to the talks described hopes for a settlement as a "flickering flame". According to an online Bassa poll, nearly a third of cabin crew want a walkout lasting more than 10 days.
BA says that it will be able to operate all flights from London City Airport , and all long-haul services from Gatwick, if a strike is called, according to BBC. A "substantial number" of long- and short-haul flights from Heathrow would still operate.
"These plans will allow us to protect our customers' travel arrangements better than many people imagined possible in the difficult conditions that a strike by the biggest section of our workforce is bound to cause," said Walsh, Guardian wrote. BA operates 650 flights a day with its 239-plane fleet, mostly from its Heathrow Airport base, but Walsh did not say which routes would be kept open by the stand-in workforce.
The airline's defiant rhetoric comes a week after more than 80% of cabin crew members of Unite voted to go ahead with industrial action, Sky News reports. BA has also lined up leasing agreements with other airlines and is ready to block book seats with rivals in order to cater for affected passengers. Walsh also repeated his threat that staff perks will be permanently removed from anyone who walks out.
According to the same source, Len McCluskey, Unite's assistant general secretary, said: "It is deeply regrettable that BA's CEO has chosen to adopt this inflammatory and confrontational stance at a time when we are engaged in meaningful talks with the company." Again, we say to BA that the only way to resolve the issues before us is through negotiation. They certainly will not be addressed by attempting to intimidate employees." Unite has until 15 March to declare industrial action, and in the meantime remains in talks with BA, arbitrated by the Trades Union Congress.
BA is losing money and needs to cut costs to make a profit, BBC reports. It introduced a number of measures last November, including reducing the number of crew on long-haul flights and bringing in a two-year pay freeze from 2010. It is these measures that have angered BA staff.
Unite wants to reverse unilateral cuts to staffing levels which saw crew numbers on long-haul flights reduced from 15 to 14 in November, according to Guardian. Although documents discussing the reversal of the cuts have been circulating at the TUC talks, Walsh ruled out any changes in his email to staff. "The changes we have made to onboard crew numbers are permanent. They will not be reversed by the threat of a strike," he said.
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