The cabin crew on BA strike20 vote: 38 22/02/2010, Dan Milmo, airline industry, British Airways, business, guardian.co.uk, news, unions, travel, news,

The cabin crew on BA strike20 vote: 38 22/02/2010, Dan Milmo, airline industry, British Airways, business, guardian.co.uk, news, unions, travel, news, United Kingdom Guardian Unlimited

British Airways faces long strike next month after 81% of the cabin crew to support the industrial action

British Airways faces a long strike by cabin crew next month after employees voted strongly in favor of a strike.

The survey saw 81% of cabin crew to strike back in a dispute over staff cuts and proposed changes to working conditions, with a turnout of 79%. The Unite union has not announced a date to strike but a strike may be organized within 28 days.

Unite officials and members of his branch of the crew, Bassa, will meet tomorrow to discuss the strike dates, but the two-week Easter break has been ruled out. The union hopes that the overwhelming vote in favor - the second in just over two months - will encourage BA to agree to a peace agreement. However, the majority was smaller than the backing of 92% in the previous ballot before Christmas, the participation itself.

Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary of Unite, called on BA to reach an agreement instead of resorting to the High Court, where he successfully defeated an attempt of 12-day strike last year. "This can only be resolved through negotiation, not litigation or intimidation," said McCluskey. BA condemned the threat to withdraw benefits of discounted travel for air marshals to strike. The discussions between Unite and BA will resume in the TUC.

BA condemned the outcome of the vote "very disappointing" and urged Unite to consider another court decision last week that sanctioned cuts in staffing levels on flights. Unite has demanded the repeal of the cuts as a precondition for an agreement, but the ruling has reinforced BA. "We will not allow it to bind to ruin this company. In the event of a strike of all, do everything possible to protect our customers travel plans as far as possible," said BA.

McCluskey said that 11,700 of UNITE-BA cabin crew members who do not stop for Easter, to avoid disrupting the plans of families on vacation. However, there is support within Bassa a strike next month by at least 10 days.

Bassa A recent survey indicates strong support for the action of more than 10 days and a trade union source who is willing to join sanction a long-term unemployed. Unite joint general secretary, Derek Simpson, members alarmed in December when he said that a strike of 12 days was "probably over the top". However, the union source said he did not join back out of a major strike. "Ten Days has never been higher," said the source.

A cabin crew strike is likely that the majority of BA's ground operations, although BA is the training of hundreds of crew aids after calling on its 38,000 volunteer workers. BA operates 650 daily flights, carrying some 80,000 passengers.

Unite is preparing for a combative response from the lawyers of BA. Vote today is a repetition of the previous survey, which was organized after unilaterally reduced BA cabin crew on long haul flights of at least one person to cut costs in an airline which posted a pretax loss of £ 401m last year.

However, BA obtained an injunction against the previous ballot, having learned that the cabin crew for the implementation of voluntary redundancies had taken part. Unite is confident that its database of surveys can withstand another cessation attempt under the 1992 Law on Trade Unions, which requires unions to provide detailed information about the survey and participating employees.

Officials unite to resist the Union accuses BA strike over plans to implement the new, lower wages of cabin crew in a separate fleet. The plan, called "the new fleet," by BA, was rejected by Unite in peace talks, because BA could injunct a strike by the movement under EU law. BA uses a similar legal argument to block a strike by British pilots union, BALPA, in 2008. BALPA had threatened industrial action at the launch of OpenSkies, a subsidiary which flies from Paris to North America, using a separate pilot workforce.

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