Thousands face chaos in BA strike
HOLIDAYMAKERS are facing travel chaos after pilots were cleared to hold a walkout.
British Airways failed to stop industrial action after a legal challenge was rejected by appeal judges.
It means a strike by pilots will now go ahead unless there is a breakthrough in talks this week.
Pilots’ union Balpa has urged BA to ‘wake up to reality’, arguing there is overwhelming support for action unless its members based at Heathrow and Gatwick receive a better pay deal.
Pilots are holding out on a deal that would push their average salary up to £200,000.
Meanwhile, members of GMB and Unite, which represent 90 per cent of BA staff, have accepted the deal.
BA has warned about 800 flights could be grounded on the first day of strike action.
HUNDREDS of thousands of BA passengers face summer strike chaos after pilots were cleared to hold a crippling walkout.
Britain’s flag carrier yesterday failed to stop industrial action after a legal challenge was rejected by appeal judges.
Pilots’ union Balpa has now made it clear the protest will go ahead unless there is a breakthrough in negotiations this week.
The union did not announce strike dates – but urged BA to ‘wake up to reality’ as it stressed there was overwhelming support for action unless pilots based at Heathrow and Gatwick receive a better pay deal. Balpa teamed up with unions Unite and GMB to submit a joint pay claim and were offered 11.5 per cent pay deal.
It emerged last night that members of GMB and Unite, which represent 90 per cent of BA staff, have accepted the deal.
This includes BA’s check-in staff at Heathrow, who are paid around £20,700 on average, and baggage handlers, who get about £23,800. Yet pilots are holding out on a deal that would push their average salary up to £200,000.
Talks at the London offices of conciliation service Acas resumed yesterday and are scheduled to continue for the rest of the week.
Balpa warned the ‘window for negotiation and compromise is closing fast’ and pointed out that union laws mean it is only required to give two weeks notice if it intends to strike.
This means it could go ahead from mid-August, at the height of the summer holidays.
In an initial attempt to stop strikes, BA argued in the High Court last week that the ballot by Balpa did not comply with trade union law. However, a judge dismissed the firm’s application for an interim injunction to prevent strike action. A Court of Appeal challenge failed yesterday, meaning the airline has
‘Wake up to reality’
exhausted legal options to block industrial action.
During the legal battle, court documents submitted by BA revealed that pilots are paid an average salary of £167,000 a year. The pay hike on offer would be worth just over £19,000 on average. Pilots also receive an hourly ‘flying allowance’, which is typically worth between £14,000 and £15,000 a year.
Balpa’s general secretary, Brian Strutton, said he was determined to find a ‘peaceful solution’ and avoid strikes,
But he warned: ‘BA’s attempt to defeat the democratic view of their pilots in court, rather than deal with us across the negotiating table, has sadly wasted huge amounts of time and money that could have been put into finding a peaceful resolution. Now the window for negotiation and compromise is closing fast. BA need to wake up to reality.
‘Our ballot returned 93 per cent in favour of strike action.’ In court BA had claimed a strike could cost it up to £40million a day, as well as causing mayhem for passengers. Balpa, which represents around 3,800 of BA’s 4,500 pilots, claimed that a single day of strike action would cost the airline more than settling the dispute by giving pilots a bigger pay rise.
Holidaymakers with BA flights booked over the next few weeks face an agonising wait.
The airline has warned that about 800 flights could be grounded on the first day of strike action, affecting around 130,000 passengers a day.
In a statement, BA said it was ‘disappointed’ that Balpa had chosen to threaten customers’ holidays with ‘unprecedented strike action’.
n Ryanair has warned it is preparing to shed hundreds of jobs – as it has too many staff. The budget airline’s boss Michael O’Leary said the firm needed 600 fewer pilots and cabin crew by next year.