British Airways' passengers are facing the threat of further disruption after the airline's cabin crew yesterday voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in a dispute over pay, sick leave and staffing levels.
BA managers were due to hold emergency talks with union leaders this morning in the hope of averting another bout of chaos at Britain's airports. It would be the third standstill in less than a year after thousands of passengers were left stranded by bad weather in the run-up to Christmas and thousands more were affected by a terrorism scare last August.
The walkout could come as early as next week but a threat is also hanging over the half-term school holiday next month, a key time for travel. The union must give seven days notice ahead of its intention to call a strike and any action must be taken within 28 days of the ballot result.
Industrial action would ground international and domestic flights. BA has 550 flights in and out of Heathrow a day, carrying 60,000 passengers, and a further 180 flights to and from Gatwick, carrying 15,000 people.
The dispute over working practices is separate to a long-running disagreement over BA's attempts to plug a £2.1bn pensions deficit. A pensions deal was agreed in principle with four unions this month, which would mean staff pushing back their retirement age. That has since been rejected by at least one union, the GMB, which is about to ballot its members, mostly check-in and IT staff, raising the threat of yet more misery for travellers.
The Transport and General Workers Union said 96.1% of its cabin crew members voted in favour of strike action. There was a turnout of more than 80% for the vote, with about 8,100 backing the plan and 330 against.
The airline has targeted £450m of savings over the next two years through changes in working practices.
Jack Dromey, the T&G deputy general secretary, said the vote had left "no room for doubt" about how strongly the cabin crew felt. The union said the issues had been building up for two years. Among its complaints, the union claims staff are being forced to work when they are unwell under new absence rules and that some higher pay grades are being abolished. The T&G is expected to issue a statement on the pensions dispute this week.
BA disputes that staff are being forced to work when they are unwell. The airline says it is merely asking for doctors' notes and monitoring workers who are often absent in an effort to cut down the average of 22 sick days taken by cabin crew each year.
In a statement, BA said it was "very disappointed" by the T&G threat. "We have suggested ways of meeting the union's concerns - but up to now it has either refused to discuss our proposals or rejected them out of hand."
