British Airways strike: Easter travellers spared
Cabin crew at British Airways are heading to the ballot boxes next week, and it had been feared that a vote in favour of walkouts would result in travel chaos for hundreds of thousands of Easter travellers.
But passengers can now breathe a sigh of relief after Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary of the Unite union, confirmed that BA cabin crew will not be disrupting travel plans over the busy holiday period.
He commented: “It was never the intention of Unite … to call industrial action over Easter.”
“I want to make it abundantly clear that, if industrial action receives the required mandate from the members and strike action is made necessary … we will not call such action over the Easter holiday period.
“We are making this announcement now so families can plan their travel arrangements in confidence.”
Mr McCluskey’s comments come in sharp contrast to the sentiments he expressed last December, when Unite unveiled plans for a devastating 12-day walkout over Christmas and the New Year.
That catastrophic misjudgement provoked a furious backlash from both the press and the general public, who were outraged at what they saw as union militancy holding the country to ransom.
But with the new softer approach, Unite appears to have realised its mistakes and is now expected to launch a series of low-level walkouts intended to cause only moderate disruption. Its dramatic climb-down will be seen by many as an admission of defeat in the long-running battle with management.
Cabin crew had been up in arms over new working conditions – rolled out by BA chief executive Willie Walsh – which centre on reducing staff numbers on long-haul flights from 15 to 14.
Mr Walsh outlined the cost-cutting measures after British Airways posted losses of £401 million last year, with the airline industry feeling the full force of the global economic downturn.
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