More than half a million British Airways (BA) passengers face strike disruption this month after the Unite trade union announced walkouts over two consecutive weekends, prompting BA to withdraw a peace offer.
Unite has called a series of strikes by up to 12,000 flight attendants, with a three-day walkout on March 20 and then a four-day stoppage from March 27. Further action will take place after April 14 if there is no deal, the union added.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown intervened on Friday afternoon, calling on both sides to reach agreement.
“I hope they will do so [resume talks], but I remind them of the danger and risk to the British economy of disruptive strikes going ahead,” the prime minister said.
Brief hopes of a reprieve for the 525,000 passengers affected were extinguished on Friday afternoon when BA chief executive Willie Walsh withdrew a compromise offer after hearing Unite had set dates for the airline’s first cabin crew strike in 13 years.
BA said the offer, which included a partial repeal of staffing cuts, was conditional on not setting dates.
Walsh told the BBC the two sides were “not close at all” to an agreement and described Unite’s counter-offer of a 2.6 percent pay cut as “morally wrong.”
Walsh said that passengers already booked onto flights from March 19 to March 31 could apply for a refund or reschedule their journeys.
BA’s move means strikes are certain next Friday unless any communication between the sides, described as “slender” by one source close to the talks, yields a compromise.
The two sides are haggling over a £62.5 million (US$94.9 million) target to cut costs in the annual cabin crew budget, which BA has achieved by unilaterally cutting staffing on flights by at least one person.
This followed a voluntary redundancy program that saw 1,100 flight attendants leave.
Unite wants the majority of those positions reinstated and has offered to accept a 2.6 percent pay cut this year.
The action has been timed to cause maximum disruption, with the airline struggling to reinstate a normal timetable between strikes. BA has around 75,000 passengers a day on 650 services.
Walsh has said he hopes to operate a substantial proportion of Heathrow long-haul and a good number of short-haul flights in the strikes.
The airline admitted there would be cancelations and hopes to announce a revised schedule tomorrow.
The airline also pledges to break the strike with 1,000 volunteer attendants from its non-cabin-crew workforce, and is preparing to hire 23 planes complete with crew.
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