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British Airways cabin crew vote for 12-day strike from December 22

Published: 14/12/2009 - Filed under: News »

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British Airways staff have voted to strike. The strike will affect over 1 million passengers if it goes ahead, and will last 12 consecutive days from December 22. The Unite Union said that the "Decision was taken to maximise the impact"

The Union, Unite, represents around 12,500 out of the 14,000 cabin crew said that it had an 80 per cent turn out, of whom 92.5 per cent voted for strike (so around 66% of total cabin crew).

Meanwhile BA has come out fighting giving details of the package to all staff, the background to the dispute and even details of the typical salaries and allowances for various categories of BA staff. The airline says that "CAA figures comparing cabin crew costs for 10 UK airlines show that BA crew are easily the most expensive, costing twice as much as their Virgin Atlantic counterparts."

The airline says that the package includes:

• acceptance of requests to work part-time from more than 3,000 crew
• a pay rise of between two and seven per cent this year, and again in 2010, for 75 per cent of crew
• protection of average allowances
• opportunity to earn shares and better staff travel benefits
• no reductions in individual terms and conditions

To accommodate the requests for part-time working and voluntary redundancy, a modest reduction in onboard crew numbers was introduced from November 16. On the vast majority of flights, numbers are being reduced by one. These are new crewing levels."

At the heart of the dispute is whether the new requirements on staff constitue "new contracts". Unite says they do, BA says they do not. BA says that its package for cabin crew involves "minor changes in onboard crew numbers at Heathrow – typically a reduction of one, with crew managers (Cabin Service Directors) taking a bigger role in customer-facing duties to ensure service levels are maintained."

"The new Heathrow crewing levels are the same as have operated on equivalent British Airways flights from Gatwick for years, with Unite’s agreement. These are new crewing levels at Heathrow. They are not new contracts."

In addition, BA says that the Unite ballot form did not identify any specific grievance, and has published its cabin crew earnings.

For Heathrow long haul this is that a Cabin Services Director earns £38,006 but with allowances this rises to "Total Earnings" of £56,325.

Annual leave is 31-37 days for Heathrow shorthaul crew and 30-36 days for longhaul. For Gatwick crew, it is 28 days. 

In addition, it has published its cabin crew allowances from Heathrow, October 2009. These show that a crew member working Heathrow-Tokyo-Heathrow will receive allowances of £935 for the four-day trip. A six-day return to Shanghai pays £866, five days to Hong Kong £798 and five days to Rio £731. These allowances exclude hotel costs.

Meanwhile, Easyjet has offered free Speedy Boarding on its flights during the strike for BA Executive Club Gold Card Holders, though not their families/ travelling companions. 

A forum string has been created by one of our readers to discuss the implications of the strike at:

businesstraveller.com/discussion/topic/BA-Cabin-Crew-Strike

And BA has a page for those wishing to rebook

https://lfn.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/lfn.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=3917

It says "Customers who are booked to travel between 22 December 2009 and 2 January 2009 and for 48 hours on either side of those dates who would like to take their flight at a different time can change to another BA flight departing in the next twelve months at no charge. 

If a customer’s flight is cancelled because of industrial action, we will offer them the option to refund their ticket, rebook on to a different flight or reroute their journey on another BA flight."

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COMMENTS » 

FrequentTraveller - 14/12/2009 14:50

Is there any indication yet as to what format the strike action will take? i.e. Is it a total walk out for a duration of 12 days, so there will probably be zero services. Or will the action allow some flights to operate.

StephenLondon - 14/12/2009 14:53

What a shame, and this is potential suicide by the cabin crew. I have one word for them to ponder - SABENA.

£56,325 for a CSD with time off well in excess of what most companies offer their staff...and they want to strike? Compare this to the national income average. Shameful, in my opinion.

FCTraveller - 14/12/2009 14:56

These unions need to get a grip on reality. They will do like in so many other countries, drive the national airline right into the ground. Tell them to compare their incomes to that of nurses, for example. I totally agree with what WW said in his letter this morning.

theworldtraveller - 14/12/2009 16:05

It makes me angry that this union has drummed up a vote for strike that could bring down a company - and i think they are looking at London Underground as well. If they have not got a strong case for the strike, I would like to see how much BA will sue Unite for. What world do these people live in to disrupt everyones Christmas plans. Cabin crew will lose 12 days money as well, that must hurt but zero sympathy!

VintageKrug - 14/12/2009 20:17

A vote in favour of industrial action was expected.

I am however surprised at the duration of the strike action. I really wonder how many crew will actually man the picket lines over Christmas.

Seems many wanted to vote to "send a message" to Willie Walsh.

Well, message received - your Union hasn't got a clue and doesn't deserve the right to represent you, as its policies will actually cost your jobs, and affect the livelihood of many others who work as suppliers to BA, not to mention the emotional unhappiness inflicted on customers as a consequence.

The damage this has already done, and will continue to do, to cashflow is of an entirely different magnitude to any of the recent modest changes to the product offered to passengers.

The changes to terms and conditions are reasonable, most of which have already agreed to by the Union Unite in the Gatwick Agreement, have been practiced by BA employees there for years, and are approved of by Unite members who work at LGW.

It is worth remembering that if BA wins the February court case, BA will sue Unite for damages which will run into tens of millions.

It does seem that Unite/BASSA are prepared to risk everything in this dispute which is in truth about the balance of power between BA and the unions.

Make no mistake, WW has to win this to bring BASSA into line and eliminate its pernicious influence on the LHR operation. Sadly alot of people, and the most vulnerable to boot, are going to get hurt in the process.

This is a colossal self-inflicted wound on the part of the Trots at Unite.

ScottWilson - 15/12/2009 11:57

Only in the bizarre economically illiterate world of the Marxist unionist does bringing your employer to its knees seem rational. I expect Unite thinks if BA is about to fold that the government would bail it out, when such a move would be illegal under EU law, and would see Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic immediately seeking serious damages.

For Willie Walsh it is do or die, BA at LHR badly needs to be brought into line for the sake of the airline. The red flag in the meantime will bring back memories of the sort of attitude that crippled Britain for so long.

Sledgehammer - 15/12/2009 21:39

1970's style industrial action need a 1980's style management response. Willie need to show some balls! If they go on strike , sack the lot of them, then re-hire the first 10,000 to apply on new contracts. There is no public support for this strike. £56,000 for a glorified sky waiter is good money by most peoples standards.

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