New offer from British Airways could postpone cabin crew strike
ballot
27 June 2010
Unite the union confirmed today (Sunday) that the new offer to
British Airways cabin crew could lead to the postponement of the
new industrial action ballot which was set to begin on Tuesday,
June 29th.
Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley, said: "As a
consequence of the company’s last and final offer the union and its
representatives will have no choice but to delay our vote in order
to allow our members to consult on the offer.
"The company has made it clear that the offer on the table will
be removed if the strike ballot starts on Tuesday.
"It would be therefore be inexplicable if we did not put this
offer to our members, and I expect this course of action will be
confirmed by our cabin crew representatives when they meet
tomorrow."
However, Unite has warned that it is not in a position to
recommend the BA proposal to members because it does not fully
reinstate staff travel arrangements stripped from crew who took
lawful industrial strike action in March and May.
Tony Woodley added: “The fact that staff travel arrangements
have not been restored to thousands of crew prevents this offer
from BA being the breakthrough everyone seeks.
"Failure by BA to restore travel in full means the possibility
of a recommendation nil and makes acceptance of the offer
uncertain.”
Tony Woodley ended: "This dispute could have been settled months
ago. A company cannot expect to attempt to beat its employees
into submission and still function normally - it has to win hearts
and minds if it is to progress. By choosing conflict over
consensus, BA has lost tens of millions of pounds and one and half
million BA passengers have deserted the airline for other
carriers.
"We hope that postponement of the strike ballot will give them
time to reflect on what more BA needs to do to restore peace and
stability to this company."
Unite said the new proposal contains protections for existing
members from the new fleet inferior contracts BA is introducing and
will provide cabin crew a minimum allowance payment, an improvement
to the flat fee that had been offered before. Unite is also
seeking an independent review of the cases of members suspended and
sacked during the dispute.
The consultative ballot on BA's new proposal could begin this
week.
ENDS
For further information, please call Pauline Doyle on 07976 832
861
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