British Airways was heading for its first strike in 13 years this week. It looks as if 12,000 cabin crew will walk out on 20-22 March, and for a further four days starting on 27 March, in a dispute over working practices and costs. The stand-off between BA and the cabin crew’s union, Unite, also hit the front pages, given its close links to the Labour Party. Meanwhile, BA managed to secure a separate deal to tackle its £3.7bn pension deficit by raising staff contributions. The deal should facilitate a merger with Iberia.
What the commentators said
A BA strike is “potentially toxic” for Labour, said Jim Pickard in the FT. Unite is the most generous donor to the party, having helped it avoid bankruptcy by coughing up £11m over the past four years. And Charlie Whelan, Gordon Brown’s former spin doctor, is a director of Unite, which has installed its members as Labour parliamentary candidates. So much for the idea that unions “throwing their weight around” are relics of the 1970s, said The Daily Telegraph.
The union’s “blindness” is certainly reminiscent of the 1970s, as Gordon Brown acknowledged by condemning the strike, said The Independent. BA lost £400m last year and is battling for survival. To keep up with “ruthless” cost-cutting rivals it needs to reduce staff costs. Given that BA’s crew are relatively well paid – the average cabin crew salary is £29,000, compared to £14,100 at Virgin – “this should be bearable”. Moreover, plenty of people across the economy have had to put up with the two-year pay freezes and staffing cuts requested of BA staff. Unite “needs to come back down to earth”.