British Airways (BA) is increasingly likely to face strike this autumn, as the trade union representing cabin crew said new contracts offered to the airline’s remaining staff did not offer enough stability and could cut pay substantially.
The trade union’s first threat to the BA with strike action came in July and after a union meeting on Thursday, a spokesman said he would instruct lawyers to proceed on industrial action.
However, any strike, which would need to be approved by a vote, is likely to be some weeks away, given that Unite has yet to formally start the process.
BA said it had received no notification of any ballot for industrial action, the first step in a weeks-long process which precedes any strike.
British Airways, owned by IAG (ICAG.L), however, said it was battling to survive after the pandemic wiped out international travel and it has been burning through 20 million pounds a day and has said it needs to axe up to, 12,000 jobs but Unite says the cuts it is trying to make, go too far.
While flying restarted in Europe in June, new restrictions continue to be imposed as Britain on Thursday, brought in quarantine rules for Austria and Croatia, creating a problem for travel demand in markets served by BA.
It also argues that staff who keep their jobs at the airline face contracts which provide no stability or security, and involve pay cuts of up to 43 per cent.
“Enough is enough. We will now instruct our legal specialists to proceed to industrial and legal actions, which will hit BA in the autumn”.