British Airways flights will be disrupted for a third day today by a strike action by cabin crew, with no sign of talks to broker a solution.
Company chief executive Willie Walsh insisted that the airline had been able to carry 60 per cent of booked passengers and that it had been able to add flights to its expected schedules because of the number of cabin crew breaking the strike.
Unite’s joint general secretary, Tony Woodley, sought to bypass Mr Walsh and urged members of the British Airways board to become directly involved in the dispute and prevent the four-day action due from next weekend.
In an increasingly personal dispute, many of the cabin crew picketing Heathrow wore Willie Walsh face masks, with some showing him wearing a Hitler moustache, along with placards comparing his salary to theirs. The Conservative Party sought to secure political advantage from the dispute, given Labour’s links with Unite – which has given it £13 million over the last four years, and is now its largest donor, by a margin. In a new poster, the Conservatives attacked prime minister Gordon Brown for not becoming directly involved. Depicting Mr Brown in a cabin crew uniform, it declares “Gordon’s doing sweet BA”.
So far, the cabin crew are losing the PR battle. A new ICM poll for the BBC shows that only 25 per cent of people think the strike is justified. BA wants to freeze pay this year, cut cabin crew from 15 to 14 on long flights and put 3,000 workers on part-time.
During a day of claim and counter-claim, BA cancelled 1,100 of its 1,950 flights due out of the UK yesterday. Numerous Twitter and blog messages from passengers indicated that many of the flights that did leave did so with sharply reduced passenger numbers.
Mr Walsh, a former chief executive of Aer Lingus, has spent £20 million hiring 25 aircraft and crews from rivals such as Virgin and BMI and Mr Walsh’s rival from his Aer Lingus days, Ryanair. The airline flew 90 empty long-haul flights to ensure passengers were not stranded at destinations abroad, though some passengers in more exotic Pacific locations served only weekly may be stranded.
Despite renting aircraft to BA, Ryanair has urged passengers “to snap up” seats on 400 UK Ryanair flights by launching a “rescue fare” of £69.99 (one-way including taxes and charges) for BA passengers whose travel plans have been disrupted by BA’s strikes.
Mr Woodley attacked Mr Walsh’s “macho” management style and said it was time for BA chairman Martin Broughton and “sensible” directors to intervene. He said that despite “propaganda” from BA about the number of staff working during this weekend’s strike, he was certain that the vast majority of Unite members were taking industrial action.
“Contrary to the spin from the company about this strike collapsing, only nine cabin crew have broken ranks and 80 have gone sick,” he said.
Flights in and out of Irish airports will not be directly affected by the strike. British Airways does not operate flights directly to Ireland, but connecting passengers booked through a codeshare arrangement operated by Aer Lingus will face delays.
Customers are advised to check the BA website (www.ba.com) or call 0044800 727800 for details.
Passengers booked on cancelled flights can rebook within 355 days of the original travel date, or cancel and claim a refund.
The walkout is also bad news for Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour Party, which relies heavily on funding from the country's labor unions, and a gift for the main opposition Conservative Party, which is leading opinion polls ahead of a general election due within weeks.
The Conservatives are seeking to evoke memories of the difficulties the Labour government had in the 1970s, culminating in the mass strikes that became known as Britain's "winter of discontent" and led to the election of Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher in 1979.
Business group London First, whose members include many of London's internationally-based businesses, warned today that the capital's reputation as a centre for global trade was being damaged by the strike.
"Despite the best efforts of BA management and many staff to continue to put the interests of passengers first, the strike is reminiscent of a best-forgotten era," said London First Chief Executive Jo Valentine.
Unite joint leader Tony Woodley is due to address workers at a rally near Heathrow later Monday.
Last Friday the airline offered a compromise on a proposed pay freeze this year, offering a 3 percent rise next year and the year after and then an inflation-linked increase in 2013/14 capped at 4 percent. The other changes include a switch to part-time work for 3,000 staff and a reduction in cabin crew sizes from 15 to 14 on long-haul flights from Heathrow.