British Airways strike: 4 weeks to announce a date |
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| Economy | |
| Written by Gary Howes | |
| Thursday, 25 February 2010 | |
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A legal perspective on the latest in the British Airways strike saga. British Airways (LON:BAY) will be hoping that an outcome to the ongoing saga between itself and union Unite can be reached within 4 weeks. According to a legal expert a date for the British Airways strike must be announced within 4 weeks of the ballot. As yet no date has been announced by union Unite - the body that represents the majority of the unionised British Airways crew. Wendy Trehy, Partner, Davies Arnold Cooper LLP says: "Unite has said that it won't announce another strike date yet, as it hopes negotiations with BA will continue. Legally, Unite must give BA at least 7 days' notice of any strike, which must start no later that 4 weeks after the date the ballot closed, which in this case means by late March 2010. "However, if both Unite and BA wish to, they can agree to extend this deadline by another four weeks to allow negotiations to continue, which seems likely to happen even though this will mean a longer period of uncertainty for passengers." If the strike goes ahead, British Airways is not required to pay employees for the period they are on strike, hence Unite will be just as hopeful that an amicable solution can be reached. BA has however recently strengthened its bargaining position when it warned cabin crew that they will no longer have access to discounted or free fares if they strike - which legally BA says it can do as these are discretionary perks. Experts say that the damage to BA's reputation and business by this industrial action has been significant. However in light of their announcement earlier this month of pre-tax losses of £50m in the last 3 months of 2009, it is clear that drastic cost cutting and change is required to the BA business model, including staff remuneration packages. Wendy Trehy, Employment Partner at Davies Arnold Cooper commented "there is a real risk that BA could go under or be taken over if its losses continue and agreement can't be reached with Unite. Good employee relations are invaluable in any business and this ongoing fight between BA, its cabin crew and Unite highlights just how significant an impact an industrial relations dispute can have if it can't be resolved at an early stage". Comments (0)
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