The Periscope Post

British Airways (BA) cabin workers will go on strike at the height of the Christmas holiday travel season, 22 December through 2 January, the airline confirmed in an announcement on its website this afternoon.

“It goes without saying that we have taken this decision to disrupt passengers and customers over the Christmas period with a heavy heart,” Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary of  Unite, the trade union that represents BA’s cabin crew, told the BBC. Unite announced that the 12,500 BA workers who voted in the ballot were overwhelmingly in favor of striking. The decision follows BA’s announcement of work changes, including an expected total of 4,900 job cuts by March 2010 and a two-year pay freeze, the BBC reported in November. Unite called the ballot, expressing a need for the negotiation of such contractual changes imposed by BA. Reducing the number of workers would negatively impact the health and safety of the crew as well as customer service, Unite stated in November.

Meetings between BA chief executive Willie Walsh and Unite general secretaries Tony Woodle and Derek Simpson broke down after Walsh was determined to see through the changes in staff and budget, reported The Guardian.

Walsh, in a statement released on BA’s site, called the strike action “completely unjustified” and invited Unite back to the negotiating table.

The strike would be a huge blow to BA and possibly bring the UK economy to a halt, one airline executive told The Times. Walsh said in his statement that BA was working on a contingency plan for customers traveling over the strike period, but has not as yet made that plan clear.

Officials, however, told The Times that management has been trained to deliver a basic cabin crew service should the need arise.

BA, like other airlines, has been in decline for several years, necessitating “reducing costs,” Walsh said.

“It’s no secret that British Airways is in financial difficulty. Like other global airlines, we have been hit extremely hard by the slump in business travel brought on by the world recession,” Walsh explained in his statement, adding that BA lost £400 million last year and stands to lose “at least” that much this year – the worst financial performance in its history.

Cutting back, he said, is essential. “Many of my colleagues understand this. Our pilots have agreed a pay cut. Our engineers have agreed to more efficient ways of working. A third of our managers have accepted voluntary redundancy. And nearly 7,000 colleagues volunteered for salary reductions because they wanted to help this great British company in a time of need,” he continued. ”But our cabin crew union has refused to engage in this process seriously.”

The strike announcement also coincided with BA’s release of its pension deficit figure on 14 December. Up 76 percent from three years ago, the deficit currently stands at £3.7 billion. The airline has until 30 June of next year to devise a recovery plan with the pension fund trustees and will involve discussions with BA workers and trade unions, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Pension deficit recovery could be a key factor for BA’s potential merger with Spanish airline Iberia, which would make it Europe’s third-largest airline, said The Financial Times. The Spanish airline reserves the right to refuse the merger should the pension deficit recovery plan be unacceptable to their terms for the merger deal.