Half term holiday chaos feared as BA staff ‘decide they WILL hold strike ballot over job cuts’
- Industrial action, which is expected to be voted through, will cause travel chaos
- Cargo, loading and baggage staff will vote on whether to go on strike in October
- It comes as Unite and GMB union called for BA to drop its ‘fire and rehire’ plans
British Airways ground staff have decided they will hold a ballot to decide on whether to strike over the half-term holidays.
The industrial action, which is expected to be voted through, would cause travel chaos during the school half-term and ground hundreds of BA flights.
Cargo, loading and baggage staff agreed to hold a ballot during a mass meeting in Heathrow, London, yesterday.
The October holiday was chosen for ‘maximum impact’. One worker told The Sun: ‘There’s disgust at the behaviour of British Airways. A strike is inevitable.’
The industrial action, which is expected to be voted through, would cause travel chaos during the school half-term and ground hundreds of BA flights. Pictured, people boarding a British Airways flight in Split, Croatia, yesterday
It comes as Unite and the GMB union have called for BA to drop its ‘fire and rehire’ proposals which will reduce the pay and conditions of thousands of cabin crew, engineers and maintenance staff.
The airline has been looking to make cuts since the impact of coronavirus put a major dent in profits.
On Friday, BA began sending letters to staff to inform them of their fate in the plans to cut more than 10,000 jobs, including voluntary measures.
Employees will either be made redundant, keep their job but on lower pay, or remain on the same contract.
Cargo, loading and baggage staff agreed to hold a ballot during a mass meeting in Heathrow, London, yesterday (pictured)
Pilots’ union Balpa reached a deal that mitigated job losses late last month. An industry insider said: ‘McCluskey’s mistake has been to treat the consultation process as a dispute – not as a crisis for the airline.’
A BA spokesman said: ‘We are having to make difficult decisions.’
Unite has accused BA of ‘industrial thuggery’ and it is trying to win support from lawmakers to strip BA of airport slots.
BA is currently only flying about 20 per cent of its normal schedule and burning through 20 million pounds per day.
Unite has accused BA of ‘industrial thuggery’ and it is trying to win support from lawmakers to strip BA of airport slots. Pictured, BA workers at a mass meeting yesterday
‘We are having to make difficult decisions and take every possible action now to protect as many jobs as possible,’ a spokesman for BA said.
Rival airlines Lufthansa and Air France-KLM have also announced job cuts.
Unite, which has already threatened BA with strike action, called on the airline to offer the same deal that it has agreed with its pilots to other staff.
‘We will do everything in our power to prevent compulsory redundancies and attacks on workers’ wages by a boardroom with billions in the bank,’ Unite said in a statement.
British Airways agreed a deal last week with pilots union BALPA for a pay cut of about 20 per cent and some compulsory job cuts estimated around 270.