Union Says 'Bah Humbug!' To Decision

The High Court ruled on Thursday that more than more than 12,000 British Airways cabin crew members cannot strike as planned due to a technicality in the balloting used to poll the workers.  The members of the Unite union had voted to strike for 12 days, from December 22 until to January 2. 

British Airways and the cabin crew union Unite have been at odds over changes made by BA including reducing the number of cabin crew from 15 to 14 on all long-haul flights, and eliminating pay increases for two years.  The union calls the new polices "draconian plans to axe 1,700 jobs, impose a two-year wage freeze and introduce a second tier workforce."

BA won the injunction against Union by claiming "irregularities in the union's strike ballot" including polling workers that had already accepted voluntary layoffs.  Unite claims a 92% affirmative vote with 80% of the eligible membership casting ballots.

Unite released a statement from joint general secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley saying: "While we have never wanted this dispute it is a disgraceful day for democracy when a court can overrule such an overwhelming decision by employees taken in a secret ballot."

The letter made clear that a strike was still a threat to BA: "Given the clear mood of cabin crew about management's imposition of changes on their working lives, this means that the spectre of further disruption to the company's operations cannot be removed.  Only a negotiated agreement can do that."

BA, who had been offering to rebook holiday flights to other times for free, quickly posted the positive news to their customers.  "We are delighted for our customers that the threat of a Christmas strike has been lifted by the court," read a statement on the BA website. "We do not want to see a million Christmases ruined."

FMI: www.britishairway.com, http://www.unitetheunion.org