British Airways strike - UPDATE 27/6 LATEST UNION STRIKE BALLOT POSTPONED

Quentin

The union won their appeal.

The law is not quite the donkey it seemed to be!

The planned strike for next Monday (24/5/10) can go ahead (if they don't settle before)

photome

Quentin wrote: »

The union won their appeal.

The law is not quite the donkey it seemed to be!

The planned strike for next Monday (24/5/10) can go ahead (if they don't settle before)

Absolutely it was an injustice for BA to have won on monday

worldtraveller

British Airways passengers face 15 days of disruption after cabin crew overturned a legal block on strike action.

The Unite union sucessfully appealed a ruling by the High Court on Monday which had granted the airline an injunction blocking the strikes.

Announcing the decision, Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice, criticised the airline for resorting to the courts rather than trying to settle the dispute amicably. Such actions were likely to "inflame rather than mollify" the tensions between the sides, he said.

The appeal has paved the way for the first of three five-day stoppages to take place at Heathrow from Monday.

There will be a one day pause before the second five-day walk out, which starts on Sunday week and finishes the following Thursday. A third strike is planned for June 5-9.

Tony Woodley, Unite's joint general secretary, warned that further industrial action was unavoidable if the dispute was not settled. This would, however, require a fresh ballot.

Telegraph.co.uk

mikey72

stoneman wrote: »

Why? The BA flight to Vegas is a world better than the rust buckets that VS use from Gatwick. and anyway, if they cancel your flight, under EU regulations you have the right to book another carrier and BA must pick up the tab unless they can re-route you themselves, simples.

That's one interpretation.

bylromarha

My poor Mother in Law. Her honeymoon was cancelled cos of the ash and the rebooked break is under threat due to tha BA strike.

SoozyJ22

I'm currently in Canada and will find out tomorrow if my flight home will be cancelled or not. If it is cancelled then there are no other flights the same day so I'll have to spend at least one extra night here, maybe more depending on availability of seats. I was wondering whether BA would have to pay for any extra accommodation and food costs I incurred as part of their duty of care? Does anyone know?

fifeken

Lots of threads on here with input from people more knowledgable than me, but yes as they are an EU based airline they have a duty of care which means they should give you food and accommodation etc until they get you home. Don't accept a refund with a view to making alternative arrangements as then they have no more responsibility for you. Maybe have a look at possible AA alternatives to get home so you can propose them if/when the time comes that they tell you to just wait as it could be a long time.

worldtraveller

Willie Walsh, British Airways' chief executive, is planning to escalate the dispute with Unite by going to court again in an attempt to block the latest wave of strikes which began this week, the Guardian has learned.

It is understood that BA's legal team is preparing an appeal at the supreme court to secure a ruling that the industrial action is unlawful.

Lawyers for the union are planning a challenge imminently, after the airline wrote to them advising them not to destroy any documents which could be needed in "pending court cases".

But independent lawyers said the attempt would be high risk, since the court could issue fresh sanctions against the airline if the ruling went against it. One said BA risked looking more "petty" after it succeeded last week in overturning the strikes on a technicality. Days later the court of appeal stunned BA when it overturned that judgment, allowing the strikes to proceed.

BA said last night it was not appealing against last week's high court ruling, but would continue the legal fight to stop the industrial action.

Guardian.co.uk

Quentin

Now they are wanting backing for 12 weeks strike! (August to October)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1287569/BA-STRIKES-European-holiday-spots-likely-worst-affected.html?ito=feeds-newsxml#ixzz0rDJPJWhY

worldtraveller

British Airways cabin crew will be balloted on fresh strikes if their dispute is not resolved by Tuesday, the Unite union has said.

The crew have staged 22 days of strike action this year in the dispute which now involves the withdrawal of travel concessions from striking workers.

Recent talks between the two parties have failed to break the deadlock.

BA said Unite had demonstrated a "selfish lack of concern for our customers and their own colleagues".

Unite said that it was giving BA until 29 June to "demonstrate that it is willing to negotiate a solution to the fresh issues between the parties - or will ballot its members for strike action".

It said the new issues under dispute were threefold: BA's use of other employees to cover as cabin crew; the removal of travel perks from crew who went on strike; and "vindictive, disproportionate and unnecessary disciplinary action" taken by BA against some of its crew members.

BBC News