| British Airways defends staff packages |
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| UK Economic | |
| Written by Sam Coventry | |
| Friday, 12 March 2010 13:56 | |
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The British Airways strike will go ahead over Easter, but small shred of hope remains. The British Airways (LON:BAY) strike will take place over three days from March 20, and for four days from March 27. British Airways management has swiftly hit back at Unite, the Union, saying it is extremely disappointed that Unite has announced plans for massive disruption for hundreds of thousands of our customers in the run-up to the Easter holidays. "Unite’s action has no shred of justification. British Airways’ crew are rightly renowned for their professionalism and skills. Our entire package for crew recognises that and is reasonable and fair," says a press release on the matter. British Airways is facing two years of record financial losses, and unlike other businesses has avoided compulsory redundancies and made changes designed to secure a long-term future for our company and our staff says the airline. Cabin crew face no pay cut or reduction in terms and conditions – and remain the best rewarded in the UK airline industry. Unite did announce that it will ballot its 12,000 cabin crew members on a new offer tabled at the 11th hour by the airline, giving hope that the strike can be averted. The result of the vote by cabin crew members, who will vote electronically, is expected next week just before the first strike is due to take place. British Airways have argued that they are keen to make only minor changes to onboard crew numbers on flights from Heathrow with the aim of saving up to £60m a year. To date all proposals put forward by Unite fall significantly short of saving £60m a year. BA say that should a strike take place, "we will do everything we can to protect our customers’ travel plans as far as possible." Despite the news British Airways continues its good form on the FTSE 100 - shares are higher 1.87% in early afternoon trade. 
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 12 March 2010 14:00 ) |