BA to Strike Over Christmas Period

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A planned strike by British Airways cabin crew will leave hundreds of passengers stranded in Cyprus and the UK this Christmas. The 12 day strike planned to take place between 22 December and 2 January 2010 will see 24 flights to and from Cyprus grounded.
 

BA in Cyprus said yesterday that if the strike goes ahead it will refund or rebook tickets affected.
 

BA is now taking legal action in an attempt to halt the strike action, alleging balloting irregularities. "The airline called on (union) Unite to call off the industrial action by 1400 GMT. The union has not done so and BA is now seeking an injunction to prevent the strike going ahead," the flag carrier's chief executive Willie Walsh said in a statement yesterday.

Dimitris Ioannou, BA Press spokesman in Cyprus said “It is not yet certain the strike will go ahead. If it does, then BA will refund or rebook tickets.” This applies to passengers who have bought non-refundable tickets,”

BA cabin crew voted to strike after a bitter row over pay and conditions, even though they are the highest paid cabin crew in the industry. The legal action was brought by BA as it alleges that many of the ballot votes were made by staff who had accepted voluntary redundancy offers, invalidating their votes.

A statement by Walsh yesterday said "We are absolutely determined to do whatever we can to protect our customers from this appalling, unjustified decision from Unite. We do not want to see a million Christmases ruined”.

He added “A strike is senseless and we urge Unite to draw back. We will not be reversing our changes to onboard crew numbers. They have allowed us to accept more than 1,000 requests for voluntary redundancy – and those former colleagues have left the business”.
 

Regarding the Union's timing of the strike, Walsh said “Unite must understand that there can be no return to the old, inefficient ways if we want to ensure long-term survival in the interests of our customers, shareholders and all our staff. “They have no justification for threatening such extreme action. It is very sad that they are seeking to use the Christmas holiday plans and family reunions of hundreds of thousands of people to try to pursue their case.”

BA now has only 5 days in which to resolve the crisis and halt the strike action.

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