The FINANCIAL — British Airways cabin crew have begun their third day of strike action following the weekend walk-out by members of the Unite union over staffing and pay changes.
Unite and BA clashed over the impact of the first two days of a three-day walkout, giving different statements about the numbers supporting the action, according to Wales Online. On March 21, joint leader of the union Tony Woodley called on BA chairman Martin Broughton and "sensible" directors to intervene in the dispute.
The same source reports that he said he was certain that the vast majority of Unite members had taken industrial action, adding: "Contrary to the spin from the company about this strike collapsing, only nine cabin crew have broken ranks and 80 have gone sick. "I am now appealing to the BA chairman and sensible members of the board to use their influence, put passengers first, and return to the negotiating table for the good of everyone. It is quite obvious this strike is in no-one's interest. We need a negotiated settlement."
According to The Independent, an official maintained that fewer than 300 crew had volunteered to stand in for strikers and accused the airline of counting inbound crew to inflate the numbers of staff on duty. BA said 97.6% of its Gatwick crew and 52% of Heathrow crew reported to work as normal over the weekend.
A spokesman said: "We will continue to offer the fullest support to our cabin crew who want to work as normal." The same source reports that BA said it reinstated a number of cancelled flights this weekend after maintaining that more crew than expected had turned up for work.
Almost all of the cancelled flights are to London Heathrow. Most of the flights to Gatwick will go ahead, according to BBC. Flights from the Scottish islands appear to be unaffected. They also plan to walk out for four days from 27 March.
The same source reports that Brian Boyd, Unite national officer for aviation, told BBC Scotland: "We've had a couple of good days now, down at Heathrow. We've caused the disruption that we needed to cause to highlights our members' plight. "We hope that we will be able to get back in the room with the company and get down to some serious negotiations."
The weekend strike, the first for London-based BA since 1997, took place after Woodley’s talks with Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh collapsed March 19, according to Bloomberg. The negotiations broke down last week after three days when Walsh presented a proposal he acknowledged was less attractive than previous offers, saying it had been modified to take account of expenses during the strike. The plan was still “fair and sensible,” he said.
The carrier is seeking to cut costs as competition on its short-haul European routes from discount carriers such as EasyJet Plc intensifies, and revenues from its more lucrative long-haul business traffic have been hurt by the recession, the same source reports.
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