16.03.10
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said a planned strike by British Airways flight attendants is ‘unjustified and deplorable’. The strike moreover comes at ‘the wrong time’, he told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour. Later Lord Adonis, transport secretary, also said within the House of Lords that ‘passengers shouldn't be held to ransom’ by the Unite union. Unite said yesterday that it is for BA to make the next move to ensure additional talks take place, which seems more and more unlikely.
The dispute, over decreased staffing levels and pay at the airline, will see the first 3 day strike start on March 20, with a second four day walkout to start on 27 March. This second strike coincides with the Easter break for the majority of independent schools, beginning on March 26, and threatens to disrupt family getaways.
With a general election looming, Mr Brown's remarks are an rare direct intervention in an industrial dispute that involves one of his party's biggest donors. He said: ‘We should not have a strike. It is not in the company's interest, it's not in the workers' interest and it's definitely not in the national interest. We have got to find a way through which the 2 sides can get together.’
Lord Adonis called on ‘the union to lift the specter of a strike and get back to the negotiating table’. His comments in Parliament echo his weekend comments that a strike would ‘threaten the very existence’ of BA. But, Tony Woodley, joint leader of Unite, condemned what he thought were Government attacks on union members.
Mr Woodley said in an interview with BBC Radio 4's World at One: ‘I do not blame our PM for trying to help bring together parties to resolve the dispute. But it is rather unfortunate that the government of all shapes and sizes always want to kick the unions and kick the employees when in actual fact it's my members who've been kicked here.’ He called on BA to reinstate a suggestion made on March 11, which the carrier withdrew when strike dates were announced, saying it could the concessions it promised.
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