| Union offers British Airways to return to talks over strike |
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16/03/2010 17:18 (697 Day 21:31 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- The Unite union that represents British Airways PLC's cabin crew, on March 16 said that it is ready to meet British Airways and return to talks to avoid the strike.
According to Reuters, most BA cabin crew plan a three-day strike starting next Saturday, followed by a four-day walkout from March 27, a decision which resulted in BA removing a formal offer made to staff conditional on Unite not naming any strike dates.
BA said on Monday it aimed to fly around 45,000 customers a day during the first stoppage, roughly 60 percent of those booked to fly on those days, the same source reports. "What we need to do is put the offer on the table, let's get 100 percent of these flights flying and get serious negotiations off the ground again and I make that offer publicly," Unite Joint General Secretary Tony Woodley told BBC Radio 4.
"If they think that strikes are going to be avoided with a worse offer, they are conning the traveling public. The company is still trying to bully and bludgeon its way through this," Unite said, according to The Wall Street Journal. "We need a serious approach to addressing cabin crew's concerns."
The same source reports that the two sides have been at conflict over BA's attempt to restructure the airline during the economic downturn and the introduction of changes that saw cabin crew on long-haul flights out of London's Heathrow Airport cut to 14 personnel from 15.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has condemned the planned strikes, and urged BA and Unite to resume talks, according to Reuters. The opposition Conservatives have pointed out that Unite is ruling Labour's largest financial backer. A strike could hurt the party's image weeks before an election.
On March 14 the transport secretary Lord Adonis appealed to Unite to return to the negotiating table in an attempt to avert the industrial action, AP wrote. Lord Adonis told BBC One's Andrew Marr show: "The impact this will have will not only be deeply damaging on passengers, it will ... threaten the very existence of British Airways. It's totally unjustified, the strike, on the merits of the issues at stake. I do call on the union to engage constructively with the company at this late stage."
The same source reported that unite accused the Transport Secretary of being "badly informed" about the long-running dispute, adding that he should be urging the airline to reinstate an offer it withdrew last week.
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