BA strike: Ban lifted by High Court
It is looking like BA strikes are set to go ahead next week after a panel of senior judges overturned a ban on industrial action.
BA was granted an injunction on Monday after the High Court ruled that the Unite union had not reported results of its strike ballot correctly to members.
The panel ruled 2-1 in favour of overturning the injunction.
“We shouldn’t have been in this process,” said Unite’s Derek Simpson. BA was “disappointed” with the ruling.
Strikes are now set to go ahead, with a series of five-day walk-outs expected to start on Monday unless the union reaches an agreement with BA before then.
The two sides have been involved in a long-running dispute over jobs, pay and working conditions.
‘Trivial case’
Unite members outside the court sang “we are the champions” after the verdict was announced.
But Mr Simpson, Unite’s joint leader, said: “This is not a moment for being triumphant. We shouldn’t have been in this process.
“The case brought by BA was trivial and, in my opinion, irresponsible.”
He added that cabin crew would not go on strike before Monday, when a five-day strike was due to begin.
Mr Simpson also called on BA to “go that extra mile” to negotiate a settlement.
Contingency plans
BA said it was “disappointed for our customers” that Unite’s appeal had been upheld.
“We will implement our contingency plan to keep British Airways flying,” the company said in a statement.
“We are confident that thousands of cabin crew will ignore Unite’s strike call and help us fly more than 70% of the customers who were booked to fly with us in the period targeted.”
It added: “Unite’s strikes have failed twice and they will fail again.”
The first strike had been scheduled to begin on Tuesday, ending on 22 May, with the three further five-day stoppages to begin on 24 May, 30 May and 5 June.
Despite the ruling in favour of BA on Monday, flights have been disrupted this week with the airline unable to reinstate all services.
Source : BBC News
