British Airways strips striking cabin crew of travel perks
British Airways is braced for further walkouts as union leaders pledged to fight a decision to strip travel perks from thousands of cabin crew who went on strike.
Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson, joint leaders of Unite, said BA’s decision to carry out its threat to take away the travel concessions was “unacceptable anti-union bullying”.
In a letter to union members involved in the dispute, the two leaders said: “Any agreement to end this dispute must and will include a framework for the full restoration of those travel concessions.
“The company has vindictively acted to dock pay from crew not just for days taken on strike, but in some cases for longer periods, significantly impacting on your income. Accordingly, Unite will pay strike pay at our agreed rate not just for days taken on strike but for all days for which the employer has deducted wages as a result of industrial action.”
They spoke out as almost 100 academics signed a letter accusing BA chief Willie Walsh of wanting to “break the union”. The letter, sent to the Guardian newspaper and published on its website, was signed by 95 employment relations experts from universities across the UK.
It stated: “Given the near certainty of further strikes, it is clear to us that the actions of the chief executive of British Airways, notwithstanding his protestations to the contrary, are explicable only by the desire to break the union which represents the cabin crew.
“What other possible interpretation can there be for Willie Walsh rejecting Unite’s acceptance of BA’s previous offer or indeed of his marshalling of resources, including those of bitter industry rival Ryanair, to undermine the action of his staff?”
Unite said any deal to end the bitter row over cost cutting and jobs will now have to lead to the restoration of travel assistance. Nearly one third of crew depend on the travel assistance just to get to work, said the union.
A spokesman said: “Crew who commute to Heathrow from former BA bases in places such as Glasgow and Manchester which the company closed, and at the time promised financial help for those now required to travel to their new place of work, are hit hardest by this latest attack from their employer.”
A BA spokesman said: “Our cabin crew knew that if they took part in the strike they would lose their staff travel permanently.”
Source: Press Association