British Airways Strike Update: Battles Over Travel Perks
In another turn in the contentious battle between the trade union Unite and British Airways
, the union announced on Monday that it would pursue legal action against the airline over the removal of striking cabin crew's travel concessions.According to Unite, which represents 11,000 BA cabin crew members, the removal of travel concessions was a breach of European human rights legislation.The union also claims that proper disciplinary procedures were not being followed when the concessions were removed.BA has responded to the accusations with their own statement, saying that travel concessions were a staff perk that the company had the right to withdraw at their discretion. Crew members should have anticipated losing company perks when they went on strike, BA said.
The reinstatement of travel perks has been a hot-button issue in the fight between the union and the airline. Though the main issue behind the strike has been improvements in working conditions, BA's refusal to reinstate travel perks has been a sticking point.Staff travel entitles staff to discounted travel, which increases with length of service. So, more senior staff that took part in industrial action lost years of amassed travel perks.
Last week, United rejected an offer by BA that only partially reinstated staff travel. However, last week's vote attracted less than 50 percent of the striking BA workforce, signaling that crew members might be tiring of the conflict which has been ongoing since December.In a move perhaps addressing this strike fatigue, Unite has promised to provide assistance to crew members who have suffered particular financial hardship because of the strike. BA has docked additional days' pay from those who went on strike.
The union did not provide details on what kinds of assistance would be provided.Next week, union leadership and BA executives will return to the negotiating table for further talks mediated by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.The dispute which has disrupted 22 days of service since March has cost BA more than $232 million. Prior to May, BA announced its biggest loss since 1987. The airline lost $788 million in the 12 months to March.
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