A five-day strike by thousands of British Airways (BA) cabin crew is set to go ahead from tomorrow after a leader of the Unite union said there had been a “catastrophic” breakdown of talks.
Tony Woodley, joint leader of Unite, said there was no chance of resuming negotiations today after talks with the airline were dramatically halted by scores of Socialist Workers Party activists last night.
Mr Woodley briefed union officials this morning but was gloomy about the chances of resuming negotiations. The union is now pressing ahead with the first of three five-day walkouts.
Cabin crew will call off a five-day strike if their travel perks are reinstated, Mr Woodley said today. "Let's stop the inconvenience to the British travelling public. . . . Let's get the travel back on for our people and let's finalise a deal hopefully over these next couple of days," Mr Woodley told reporters in London.
Cabin crew have been angered by the removal of travel benefits from striking staff in a long-running dispute over the airline's cost-cutting drive.
Earlier today, BA chief executive Willie Walsh said the carrier will not be grounded if the first of three five-day cabin crew strikes goes ahead tomorrow.
Mr Walsh said he was hopeful a deal with the Unite union could be reached on today in a long-running dispute over the airline's cost-cutting drive but said the company had contingency plans in place to keep services running.
"We have resolved all of the substantive issues," Walsh told BBC television. "I think we can work through it."
"BA will survive and we will be stronger because we are tackling the core issues. We will not allow Unite, the union, to ground BA."
Talks between the union and BA were broken up on Saturday when protesters gatecrashed negotiations at the premises of the industrial dispute mediator Acas in London and did not resume today.
Police were called to the headquarters of the conciliation service yesterday after members of the Socialist Workers Party managed to get to the 23rd floor where leaders of Unite were meeting with Mr Walsh.
The talks had to be abandoned amid scenes of chaos as the union officials and Mr Walsh were surrounded by the chanting demonstrators.
Mr Woodley, joint leader of Unite which represents BA cabin crew, angrily remonstrated with the protesters telling them to “shut up”. But the protesters, many holding up Socialist Workers Party banners, stayed in the building until they were ejected by police officers.
There was further controversy as BA accused Derek Simpson, joint leader of Unite union, of sending Tweets throughout the afternoon giving a “running commentary” of the negotiations.
BA issued a statement saying it was “astonished” after a string of Tweets appeared under the name derekamicus, on a page with a photograph of Mr Simpson. One read: “Willie and Tony locking horns over accusations of unequal treatment of allegations of bullying,” followed by another reading: “Arguments over the eight sacked workers,” and then: “Fear of more sackings to come.”
Mr Walsh told Mr Marr he was “shocked and angry” to learn that Mr Simpson was sending the Tweets during yesterday’s meeting, adding: “That really does undermine the discussions that took place, and I think it raises questions about how this union operates.”
BA’s chief executive said the remaining issue at the heart of the dispute was the refusal of the British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association (Bassa) to accept a deal agreed by Mr Woodley and Mr Simpson.
Staff travel perks were a “distraction” from that main issue, Mr Walsh insisted, saying a “framework” to restore the perks had been put in place as part of a series of concessions. Asked about the possibility of a breakthrough today, Mr Walsh told Mr Marr: “I believe there is always an opportunity to that.
“I think we could have come close yesterday. If it wasn’t for Derek’s actions and clearly then the mob storming the building, we may have been able to make significant progress. There were a number of issues that were I think successfully addressed yesterday, so there is always hope.”
Mr Walsh also said he was “sorry and hugely disappointed” for any passengers affected by the latest strike.
Unite has said it is ready to resume talks “at any time” to settle the dispute.
This week the airline announced record annual losses of £531 million due to lower passenger numbers, higher costs and the impact of the long-running dispute over jobs, pay and working conditions.
Agencies