By Andrew Gibson
The long running saga between BA and Unite seems to have reared its ugly head once again. It would appear that the cabin crew union Unite is to ballot its members on a proposed new wave of industrial action. British Airways and its travel weary passengers must have given out another groan of dismay when the news was announced that there may be further industrial disruption in January.
The dispute has now being rumbling along for twelve months and it was thought that an agreement was in sight. However it would now seem that is not the case with Unite now keen to ballot its members on further industrial action.
British Airways have today made a statement confirming that there is the possibility of further disruptions. What must surely confuse passengers is the fact that Woodley initially agreed to let his members vote on the proposed agreement that was drawn up by ACAS. In a complete change of heart, Woodley has now decided against this after the terms were rejected by the BASSA branch of Unite.
What it does now do, however, is place more uncertainty in the minds of British Airway’s passengers who are now likely to face further disruption with cancelled flights and delays next year. It would appear that battle lines are once again being drawn up and BA have already indicated that it is preparing to put measures in place to cope with the strike action if it goes ahead. The news was a real blow to BA when it wanted to celebrate the good news that their merger with Iberia had been approved by shareholders.
