British Airways Strike Injunction Overturned

Unite won an appeal on Thursday against the injunction on strikes at British Airways. The injunction meant that industrial action was halted during what would have been the union’s first 5-day strike wave. Now that 2 out of 3 of the judges deliberating on the matter have overturned the initial decision, strikes will continue as planned starting May 24 (Monday) and then again on May 30 and June 5.

British Airways had argued on Monday that how Unite told its members about the ballot result was insufficient, and the High Court agreed. The union had posted the results on staff noticeboards. Then yesterday the Court of Appeal overturned the ruling, which means that the cabin crew don’t have to be balloted again.

The joint general secretary of Unite, Tony Woodley, said that they are happy to have won the appeal. If justice hadn’t been secured, he continued, the right to strike would be hanging by a thread. He also said that British Airways needs to accept that the only way to end this dispute is to negotiate – not litigate – a deal they can all agree on. More industrial action will come if the carrier doesn’t work with them to address outstanding issues, he warned.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) general secretary, Brendan Barber, also welcomed the new ruling, saying that it’s an important victory. He hopes that it will mark a stop to the recent run of arbitrary legal judgments where employers find it too easy to get courts to favor them and prevent staff from exercising their right to strike.

British Airways, in response to the overturned injunction, said that they are disappointed for their customers. They will operate contingency plans during the strikes as previously planned, the carrier said. They added a blow to Unite that their strikes have failed twice and will fail again.