The union representing British Airways’ striking cabin crew warned on Saturday that it would stage more stoppages unless there was a breakthrough in the dispute over pay and jobs.
Unite, which represents about 90 percent of British Airways’ 12,000 cabin crew, made the threat on the first day of a four-day strike, its second walkout this month.
“We are not announcing any [new] strike action at the moment, and we do not have to until after April 8,” a Unite spokesman said. “It very much remains a possibility.”
The dispute is embarrassing British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who faces an uphill battle to win a general election expected on May 6.
The ruling Labour party receives much of its funding from the unions, and the opposition Conservatives have accused Brown of weakness in his approach to the disputes because of this.
Labour has called for British Airways and Unite to resume talks.
“It’s very damaging for British Airways, its very damaging to the national economy and it’s very damaging to the very jobs of union members which the union exists to protect,” Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis told Sky news. “That’s why it is so important that they get back around the negotiating table and seek to resolve this dispute by talking and not by confrontation.”
On Saturday, British Airways said Gatwick and London City airports were operating as normal, and enough cabin crew reported for work at Heathrow to operate its published schedule of 70 percent of long-haul flights.
“We have been able to minimize the impact but unfortunately, given that this is a very busy time of the year, we have not been able to provide alternative plans for all our customers,” BA chief executive Willie Walsh said in a video posted on the airline’s website.
British Airways says it wants to save £62.5 million (US$92.76 million) a year to help cope with falling demand, volatile fuel prices and greater competition.
The three-day stoppage last weekend cost the airline about £7 million a day, British Airways said. Unite disagreed, saying the seven days of strike action would cost the airline nearly £100 million.
Meanwhile, senior executives at Lufthansa are calling for a mediator in an ongoing pay dispute with pilots, German magazine Der Spiegel reported, raising hopes that a looming strike could be averted.
A company spokeswoman declined to comment on the report, saying only that the company continued to be interested in a “constructive solution” in the ongoing trade dispute.
“We will do anything next week to come closer to a solution,” she said.
It would not be the first time that the company has tried to solve trade disputes with the help of arbiters.
Lufthansa’s last major dispute with pilots in 2001, resulting in a pay deal that added 125 million euros (US$166.6 million) a year to staff costs, had to be mediated by Germany’s former foreign minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher.
Pilots at Lufthansa are planning to go on strike again April 13-16 after failing to resolve a dispute over pay and job security that already caused a costly work stoppage last month, the Vereinigung Cockpit union said last Monday.
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