| Sun 15 May 2011 |  Paul Lucas |
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The long-running cabin crew dispute at British Airways appears to be close to an end after the airline and the Unite union reached a deal on some of the key issues.
They have come to an agreement to settle the long-running industrial dispute with BA agreeing to restore travel concessions to staff who went on strike and to award some of its lowest paid employees with top-up payments. Here we take a look at this issue and what its potential resolution means for travellers.
History of the dispute
The dispute began back in October 2009 when BA reduced the number of cabin crew on long-haul flights from 15 to 14 and introduced a two-year pay freeze from 2010. According to Unite this would hit passenger services as well as the earnings and career prospects of cabin crew.
| Following the announcement, a 12 day strike was planned for December of the same year only for the High Court to rule out strike action after BA won a legal challenge. In March 2010, a three-day strike began after BA’s decision to withdraw perks; with BA then winning an injunction against a further 20 day of strikes in May of the same year. Unite then won an appeal and the strikes were back on leading to BA announcing a loss of £531million just a day later. |
With the threat of further strike action looming large, BA made a new offer which was rejected by cabin crew. In January this year, the crew voted for further strikes but their actions were halted by legal wrangling.
At the heart of the dispute is the issue of staffing levels, pay and conditions. Following walkouts in March last year, BA removed travel concessions for workers who took part in industrial action and also brought others to disciplinary action. Unite, wanted a restoration of travel perks in full; arbitration through Acas of all cabin crew disciplinary cases; and restoration of pay to those genuinely sick during the dispute. It also wanted a full discussion on how BA handled industrial relations.
Consumer relief
Now the agreement will be put to a ballot of 10,000 union members with a union recommendation for acceptance and, as part of the deal, cabin crew may receive a two-year pay rise worth up to 7.5 per cent as long as they meet productivity targets.
The moves towards reconciliation are significant for consumers who may now feel more confident in booking flights with the company without the fear of strike action and disruption looming large. In fact, the British Airways’ website, BA.com, is attempting to attract more business by publishing a number of promo codes at 5hop5.co.uk including reduced prices on flights and hotel accommodation in destinations such as Miami, Boston, Naples, Malaga, Marseille and Faro.
