British Airways faces strike

Talks to avert a strike by the cabin crew members of British Airways failed and on Friday the announcement was made that they would go on strike.

Saturday marked the first day of the strike by cabin crew members for British Airways. Friday talks between British Airways Chief Executive Willie Walsh and the joint general secretary Tony Woodley, of the Unite union failed to bring about resolution between the two groups. Their failure sealed that union members would go on-strike starting Saturday morning. According to Woodley, "This company does not want to negotiate. This company wants ultimately to go to war with my members and the union." British Airlines plans to still operate during the walkout. Still, Walsh realized that ultimately the traveler is the one that will be most hurt by the impasse. Walsh was quoted as saying, "I am disappointed the union has not been able to see the sense of the proposal we tabled today." The strike which began on Saturday will be a three-day strike. Unite represents 95 percent of British Airlines' 15,000 cabin crew members. Still, not all of them planned to participate in the strike. Unite has announced already though that should a resolution not be found, that they are prepared to strike for four more days starting on the 27th of March. Walsh pointed out that British Airway's offer on Friday was less attractive than previous offers because the airline had already lost about 27 million pounds ($40.5 million) in canceled tickets over fear of the Unite strike. Walsh pointed out that the airline needed to be compensated for their loss, and because of that their offer was less on Friday than their previous ones. The offer by British Airlines Friday had secured long-term pay protection for all existing crew, "new opportunities" for BA crew at London's Gatwick airport, and modernization of its industrial relations according to Walsh. He also was quick to point out that those employees who have gone on strike run the risk of losing their travel perks such as discounted or free travel.