A planned strike by British Airways workers was called off last night after negotiations between BA's management and unions representing 11,000 ground staff at the airline's Heathrow headquarters.
Check-in staff, baggage handlers, loaders and drivers belonging to the T&G and the GMB unions had threatened a 24-hour stoppage on Friday in protest at an 8.5% pay deal over three years.
Yesterday British Airways had stopped taking bookings on flights over the August bank holiday weekend. But last night the company started taking bookings again, saying it was relieved that holidaymakers would not be affected.
According to early reports from the negotiations BA has agreed an 8.5% pay increase over three years as well as £1,000 payable in three lump sum payments between now and September 2006.
The deal was agreed in the early hours after four days of tough negotiations. Leaders of the Transport and General Workers Union and the GMB will now recommend the deal in fresh ballots of BA workers.
The agreement follows acceptance by the unions of what BA described as a company-wide sickness absence policy which will be introduced immediately.
BA had offered bonuses to staff who cut back on sick leave, with talks centred on a way to structure this payment which avoids penalising work ers who fall genuinely ill.
Under the new policy, BA will aim to reduce the present level of sickness absence from an average of 17 days per worker every year to 10 days within 12 months.
However, even if the BA strike is averted, bank holiday travellers face disruption elsewhere. Industrial relations problems are piling up as airlines struggle to cope with soaring fuel prices and cheap fares. Some 600 United Airlines staff at Heathrow are to hold a 24-hour strike next Friday. United claimed it had "contingency plans" to operate all its flights.
United, which has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US, has offered its staff a pay rise 0.5% over inflation. It is accused of reneging on pledges last year of a bigger increase.
Pilots at Britain's second largest full-service airline, BMI, have backed industrial action by nine to one in an unofficial ballot over a 1.5% pay offer. Talks with the management of the Derby-based airline will resume next week.
In Ireland, Aer Lingus this week announced it intended to slash 1,100 jobs from its 3,800-strong workforce to reposition itself as a "low fares airline".
On the railways, Eurostar faces a 24-hour strike by customer services representatives at Waterloo and Ashford next Saturday, although it insists that trains will run as usual. The Rail, Maritime and Transport union says a new pay scale will discriminate against Eurostar staff in Kent.
