British Airways cabin crew to begin voting

On November the 16th 2009, British Airways cabin crew will start their votes for industrial action when the contracts that are being disputed come into force. British Airways cabin crew is represented by a union called Unite the Union and the majority of the 14,000 BA cabin crew will be taking part in the vote. The vote for or against taking action will close on Monday the 14th of December and if strike action is chosen then staff are eligible to start their strike from the 21st of December; just in time for the Christmas travelling season.

The reason the vote is taking place has been blamed on BA as they have failed to consult with staff about 2,000 redundancies as well as various other work-related issues mainly about terms and conditions of work. Unite the Union has been urged by the CEO of BA to withdraw strike action proposals and explained the changes that have been implemented into contracts as a necessary part of restructuring.

From April to September 2009, BA made a pre-tax loss of £292m and the changes to staff contracts have come in reaction to the amount of money lost. Walsh claims that strike action will not change the staff contracts and recently announced job losses that will see 1,700 staff made redundant. These cuts have led to many seeking voluntary redundancy and staff transfers as well as part-time contracts have also been accepted by the airline. BA also plans to freeze wages on staff for the next two years.