BA staff begin to vote on Christmas strike

Voting is due to start this week on whether 14,000 members of British Airways’ cabin crew will walk out over the busy Christmas period. The ballot will canvas all of Unite’s members and they firmly believe the answer will be a majority ‘yes’ in favour of industrial action. The dispute between the airline and its staff has been rumbling on for most of the year now, over changes in conditions and a pay freeze for the staff who will not be made redundant. Not much progress has been made with talks between Unite and BA and the carrier said they will now go ahead with their cost-cutting measures.

If the result of the vote is a yes then strike action will be ready to happen from the 21st December and keep on going until a mutual agreement is made. This could potentially ground BA flights over Christmas and New Year leaving thousands stranded around the holidays. Staff were angered further this month when BA removed one member of crew from each long-haul Boeing 747, creating extra work for the remainder on board.

BA has not been far from the minds of the travelling for most of this year. The carrier which was only privatised in the 1980s made a record loss in the last financial year — £401 million — and this year so far looks to be worse. As they have struggled like so many other airlines they have started to go down the route of budget carriers, by rescinding free sports equipment carriage and allowing passengers to book their seats months in advance for a small fee. There is also talk of the merger between Iberia and BA looking to be finished by early next year.