London, July 6 (IANS) British Airways (BA) cabin crew began voting Tuesday on a new offer by the airline aimed at averting fresh strikes over the management’s cost-cutting decisions.
The management made the offer last month when the crew went on a strike disrupting BA’s flight schedules leading to a 11.1 percent fall in passenger numbers.
The offer addresses the crew’s concerns about future earnings and includes a firm commitment that staff could keep current pay and conditions, according to a BA release.
The trade union, Unite, with which the crew are associated, has neither rejected nor accepted the offer so far. It has instead sent ballot papers to the thousands of crew members seeking a vote on the offer.
The voting process will take a fortnight to complete. According to labour rules, if the offer is rejected, another ballot will have to be held before taking further industrial action.
George Stinnes, BA’s group treasurer and investor relations head, told the Press Association: ‘The union has said that it will give the cabin crew a chance to speak their mind about the new offer the company has put forward. The union have made no recommendations and I think it’s a positive move that the cabin crew are being given the chance to express themselves in a confidential form of ballot.’
(Venkata Vemuri can be contacted at venkata.v@ians.in)
