UNITE NEWS RELEASE
>
> For immediate issue, Sunday, June 27th, 2010
>
> New offer from British Airways could postpone cabin crew strike ballot
>
> Unite the union confirmed today (Sunday) that the new offer to British
> Airways cabin crew could lead to the postponement of the new industrial
> action ballot which was set to begin on Tuesday, June 29th.
>
> Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley, said: "As a consequence of the
> company's last and final offer the union and its representatives will have
> no choice but to delay our vote in order to allow our members to consult
> on the offer.
>
> "The company has made it clear that the offer on the table will be removed
> if the strike ballot starts on Tuesday.
>
> "It would be therefore be inexplicable if we did not put this offer to our
> members, and I expect this course of action will be confirmed by our cabin
> crew representatives when they meet tomorrow."
>
> However, Unite has warned that it is not in a position to recommend the BA
> proposal to members because it does not fully reinstate staff travel
> arrangements stripped from crew who took lawful industrial strike action
> in March and May.
>
> Tony Woodley added: "The fact that staff travel arrangements have not been
> restored to thousands of crew prevents this offer from BA being the
> breakthrough everyone seeks.
>
> "Failure by BA to restore travel in full means the possibility of a
> recommendation nil and makes acceptance of the offer uncertain."
>
> Tony Woodley ended: "This dispute could have been settled months ago. A
> company cannot expect to attempt to beat its employees into submission and
> still function normally - it has to win hearts and minds if it is to
> progress. By choosing conflict over consensus, BA has lost tens of
> millions of pounds and one and half million BA passengers have deserted
> the airline for other carriers.
>
> "We hope that postponement of the strike ballot will give them time to
> reflect on what more they need to do to restore peace and stability to
> this company."
>
> Unite said the new proposal contains protections for existing members from
> the new fleet inferior contracts BA is introducing and will provide cabin
> crew a minimum allowance payment, an improvement to the flat fee that had
> been offered before. Unite is also seeking an independent review of the
> cases of members suspended and sacked during the dispute.
>
> The consultative ballot on BA's new proposal could begin this week.
>
No comments:
Post a Comment