LONDON - British Airways and the country’s biggest trade union resumed last-ditch talks on Friday in a bid to avoid strikes set to cause chaos for thousands of people over the Easter holidays.
BA chief executive Willie Walsh and the joint leader of trade union Unite, Tony Woodley, were meeting face-to-face with less than 24 hours to go until the action was due to start, following a bitter war of words in recent days.
The first set of strikes will take place for three days from Saturday, followed by a second walkout from March 27 for four days.
BA has vowed to keep at least 60 percent of passengers flying despite the action, while Unite is holding a mass meeting of cabin crew at a racecourse southwest of London to rally workers ahead of the strike.
Although neither side is giving detail on the negotiations in London, BA took out a full page advertisement in national newspapers Friday saying the strike was “unjustified” but insisting its “door remains open” to Unite.
“We have a significant number of cabin crew who don’t believe in the strike and will continue to work,” it said. “They will be supported by countless volunteers from across our airline.”
The action by Unite centres on proposed cost-cutting changes to working conditions by the airline which it says will lead to the introduction of a “second tier workforce on poorer pay and conditions”.
Last month, BA said it expected to notch up a record loss in the current financial year due to weak demand for air travel.
It made better than expected pre-tax losses of 50 million pounds (S$106.5 million) in the last three months of 2009.
First set of strikes will take place for three days from Saturday, followed by a second walkout from March 27 for four days.
LONDON - British Airways and the country’s biggest trade union resumed last-ditch talks on Friday in a bid to avoid strikes set to cause chaos for thousands of people over the Easter holidays.
BA chief executive Willie Walsh and the joint leader of trade union Unite, Tony Woodley, were meeting face-to-face with less than 24 hours to go until the action was due to start, following a bitter war of words in recent days.
The first set of strikes will take place for three days from Saturday, followed by a second walkout from March 27 for four days.
BA has vowed to keep at least 60 percent of passengers flying despite the action, while Unite is holding a mass meeting of cabin crew at a racecourse southwest of London to rally workers ahead of the strike.
Although neither side is giving detail on the negotiations in London, BA took out a full page advertisement in national newspapers Friday saying the strike was “unjustified” but insisting its “door remains open” to Unite.
“We have a significant number of cabin crew who don’t believe in the strike and will continue to work,” it said. “They will be supported by countless volunteers from across our airline.”
The action by Unite centres on proposed cost-cutting changes to working conditions by the airline which it says will lead to the introduction of a “second tier workforce on poorer pay and conditions”.
Last month, BA said it expected to notch up a record loss in the current financial year due to weak demand for air travel.
It made better than expected pre-tax losses of 50 million pounds (S$106.5 million) in the last three months of 2009.
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