BA and cabin crew union begin fresh negotiations
SENIOR members from trade union Unite and British Airways (BA) met yesterday to reignite negotiations to head off another potential set of strikes by the airline’s cabin crew.
BA chief executive Willie Walsh met with Unite’s joint general secretaries Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson for a short period yesterday at conciliation service Acas with plans to meet again next week.
The talks are a fresh bid to settle the long running dispute between the two, which has already seen BA cabin crew strike for 22 days this year costing BA up to £191m.
Walsh said that the latest pay package offered by BA’s management would be the starting point for the discussions, however the dispute between the two now centres on the removal of cabin crew travel concessions. Last week Unite threatened to take BA to court over the perks’ removal following a rejection from crew over the airline’s latest pay offer.