The union representing British Airways cabin crew has withdrawn the threat of an Easter strike.
It is thought that some crew do not want to ruin holidays and officials of the Unite union do not want to risk another injunction, as happened before Christmas. An Easter strike could also have affected the election expected in May.
After talks broke down last week, the Unite union announced that it would reballot its 12,000 cabin crew from next Monday. A previous ballot for strike action won overwhelming support last month, but the planned 12-day Christmas strike was blocked by a High Court injunction.
In her ruling, Mrs Justice Laura Cox said that a strike at the crucial Christmas period would be “fundamentally more damaging to BA and the wider public than a strike taking place at almost any other time of the year”.
Many cabin crew members who had supported industrial action were taken aback by the severity of the planned unrest. Under the current timetable, the ballot will close on February 22. Unite would have to give BA one week’s notice of a strike and must begin industrial unrest within 28 days.
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In the absence of talks, a strike is likely in March. That would spare BA a massive loss of revenue from the April holiday period. Air industry insiders say that a strike in March would in the short term actually save BA money because many flights at the tail-end of the winter season are far from full. However, the blow to BA’s image and the continued threat of passengers deserting to other airlines mean that a strike would still have dire consequences for the airline.
“I want to make it abundantly clear that, if industrial action receives the required mandate from the members and strike action is made necessary by continuing management intransigence, 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,” said Len McCluskey, the Unite assistant general secretary who had been leading negotiations this year.
“It remains our hope that this dispute can be resolved through negotiation, without the need for strikes at any time at all. But this can only happen if BA management wake up and realise that treating their greatest asset — skilled and professional employees — as enemies is the road to ruin. You can’t fly planes on management machismo.”
BA said that it was willing to talk, but that there were no negotiations planned.
“According to Unite’s ballot timetable, it is threatening the travel plans of families and business people from March 1. Assurances about an unspecified Easter holiday period will be of little comfort to them,” the company said.
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Unite has called the strike in protest at changes to crew rosters — at least one cabin crew has been taken off BA flights since November — which it says have been imposed by management.