BA cabin crew suspended over Facebook comments

It is thought that 15 members of British Airways cabin crew have been suspended by the airline after they had wrote emails and comments about a list of pilots who were working to try and stop the strike action. The union representing the cabin crew accused the airline of not having enough proof to suspend these individuals, but the airline has not listened and instead asked for the names of another 32 staff members that were connected with the Facebook discussion group.

The suspension has come right in the middle of a ballot of whether to take possible strike action over a change in working conditions. The vote was originally carried out before Christmas, and staff were due to strike over the busy Christmas and New Year period, but BA got a High Court injunction preventing the strike because of illegal voting. The vote is again up in the air at the moment, but with the added incentive that the carrier has said it will remove all flight privileges from those that take strike action.

The suspension started over the weekend after someone posted a note on Facebook saying they had in their possession a list of 50 pilots who said they will work as stewards should a strike take place. The poster then asked what they should do with the list. It has not been published on the internet, but furious BA officials called in some people that were linked with web page and ending up suspending them for their involvement.