BA (British Airways) cabin crew are to be balloted again on strike action after the airline said last ballot was illegal.BA workers voted last month for further stoppages, but the Unite union said it would hold a new vote following a "legal blitz" by the airline.
BA said the union had "nobody to blame but itself". The dispute centres on action against staff who continued strike last year, which includes removing travel perks. "Unite has once again unsuccessful to carry out an appropriate ballot. We make no regret for having recommended Unite of the defects in its conduct," BA said.
It also said that the union have been aware the ballot "lacked lawful validity" for more than 3 weeks. "It made a decision to conceal this truth from the members, opting instead for oratory about industrial exploit it knew could not occur." No dates for new strike action had been announced.
'Not break spirit'
Unite said British Airways had informed the ERS (Electoral Reform Society) that the recent ballot was illegal and that any action taken would be defenceless. Len McCluskey (General Secretary) said Unite could consequently not call a strike based on the vote, as this would "disclose our members to sanctions".
Nevertheless, he added he anticipated giving the airline official notice of a new vote within 10 days, unless negotiations began. BA's complaint concerning the ballot would not "break the spirit of cabin crew" he added, calling on the airline to "take its employment relations seriously and begin negotiating".
BA also called on Unite to restart negotiations. "There happen to be enough ballots. It is time for Unite to back towards the contract we discussed, which leaves our present Heathrow crew the best rewarded in the United Kingdom industry, and to put this dispute behind us," the airline said.
It had been not instantly clear which component of the ballot had prompted the complaint by the airline. In May past year, BA was granted an injunction after the High Court ruled the Unite union had not reported outcomes of an earlier strike ballot properly to members.
Pay freeze
Unite had said its members voted by 5,751 to at least 1,579 towards further strike action in the most recent vote, on the turnout of 75%. Even so, BA asserted Unite did not have "majority support" for strike action.
"Of our 13,500 crew, only 43% voted in favour of strike action on this ballot," the airline said. The Unite dispute has already cost BA £150m and led to 22 days of strikes. The dispute were only available in November 2009, when BA decreased the number of cabin crew on some long-haul flights from 15 to 14, and introduced a two-year pay freeze from 2010.
This led to a number of strikes within the spring and summer of last year. Subsequent to these strikes, British Airways removed the travel dispensations of those who took part, with few also facing punitive actions. It's this action by BA that's now central to the dispute, Unite says.
It wants the restoration of travel perks entirely, arbitration through Acas of cabin crew disciplinary instances related to the dispute, and restoration of pay to those that had been genuinely sick throughout the dispute. It also wants a full discussion about how exactly BA has handled industrial relations within the organization.
