BA cabin crew call two-week walkout over blacklisting accusations

BA strikers protest outside M&S on Oxford Street, 21 January photo Neil Cafferky, photo Neil Cafferky

BA strikers protest outside M&S on Oxford Street, 21 January photo Neil Cafferky, photo Neil Cafferky   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Unite members working for British Airways’ mixed fleet announced a two-week strike on 16 June, after the airline refused to accept Unite the Union’s offer on the outstanding issue of the sanctioning of striking cabin crew.

The strike is set for 1-16 July and Unite has also said it will pursue legal action against British Airways to the “highest court in the land” on behalf of 1,400 cabin crew, who were sanctioned for taking strike action in a long-running pay dispute.

British Airways has formed a blacklist to impose sanctions on striking cabin crew which have included crew seeing bonus payments worth hundreds of pounds taken away and the removal of staff travel concessions.

To date there has been a total of 26 days of strike action over pay. Showing their priorities are to try to break the union rather than pay their staff a living wage, BA management are spending millions of pounds renting out planes and crew from other companies to try to cover for services affected by the strike.

Rather than BA being the benchmark for pay and conditions in the airline industry, it is now paying some of the lowest wages. As another sign that BA is aiming to model itself on the low-cost airlines, it has now replaced free in-flight meals with Marks and Spencer (M&S) food for sale.

A cabin crew worker previously told the Socialist: “We feel we’re being paid well below what we should be paid. We’re being told we’re being paid between £21,000 and £27,000. I personally have never reached £21,000.”

Unite estimates that on average ‘mixed fleet’ cabin crew earn £16,000, including allowances, a year.