BA cabin crew talks stalemate

Cooling off period now in force

Talks between BA and the union representing its cabin crew have been suspended after failure to agree.

The Unite, union which represents 28,000 workers at the airline, registered a failure to agree after a fortnight of negotiations with BA at the UK arbitration service ACAS late on Friday (July 24).

The failure of the talks brings a summer strike at the carrier closer.

BA said in a statement that there would now be a "14 day cooling off period during which time there will be no external communications."

It added: "This period is for both sides to reflect on where they are and explore ways of resolving matters."

But the airlines talks with both Unite and the GMB which has 7,000 members among the carrier's 40,000 workforce, and Balpa the pilots' union were still continuing.

BA is seeking 3,700 redundancies, a two year pay freeze and changes in working practices.

Balpa's BA members have already approved a 2.61% pay cut and changes in working conditions in return for shares in the carrier.

This deal will save BA £26m a year.

The talks went to arbitration after the two sides failed to agree by the BA-imposed deadline of June 30.

Neither GMB  or Unite spokespersons were available for comment.

www.ba.com   www.unitetheunion.com   www.gmb.org.uk   www.acas.org.uk