from the Guardian United or divided? The union tensions that lay behind the BA strike plans | Business | The Observer
United or divided? The union tensions that lay behind the BA strike plans
Right until the last minute there were disagreements within Unite over the plans for the 12-day protest
There were emotional scenes at the announcement of the
British Airways cabin crew strike ballot last week, but the most important spectacle will not be posted on YouTube. Amid an expectant atmosphere at Sandown racecourse, a heated exchange took place whose outcome changed the direction of a momentous few days for industrial relations in the UK. Indeed, had it gone another way the week might not have ended with a high court hearing that saw BA secure an injunction against a 12-day strike.
Thousands of BA employees gathered in the shadow of the Heathrow flightpath to await a resounding vote in favour of strike action that would ground many of the planes flying overhead. However, a press conference was delayed as the assembled hacks and TV crews were told that a few details were still being sorted out. In fact, a row had broken out behind the scenes after a last-minute legal hitch ignited an argument over whether a breathtaking strike period of 12 days – the longest in BA's history – should be announced as well.
Gathered in a function room next to the cavernous main hall, some of the most influential trade unionists in British aviation were in disagreement over the next step. Len McCluskey, the assistant general secretary of Unite, and Steve Turner and Brian Boyd, Unite's aviation officers, were aware of daunting legal warnings from BA that pointed to potential irregularities in the voting process. Facing them were representatives from Bassa, the Unite cabin crew branch that represents 12,700 BA staff and was determined to send a signal to Willie Walsh, BA's combative chief executive.
Unite agreed with the message: unilaterally cutting staff numbers on flights was an intolerable act and a serious breach of industrial relations. The problem was the method chosen to deliver it – Unite was worried a 12-day strike would force Walsh into legal action with crushing consequences. There was also concern in its upper echelons about public reaction to a strike that would knock out BA from 22 December to 2 January.
A source with knowledge of the meeting said: "Some time over that weekend a letter was received threatening legal action. Unite was worried about a successful injunction." The source added that a Unite official, mindful of multimillion-pound compensation claims if a huge strike went ahead but was later ruled unlawful, then suggested a compromise of announcing the ballot result while putting off declaring a 12-day walkout for at least one day. The temperature soared. It was enough to reignite suspicions that Unite was not fully behind its cabin crew branch and accusations flew amid the kind of language that is banned on inflight announcements.
It was then that McCluskey, a rising power in Unite, is believed to have ducked out of the room to hold a phone conversation. Bassa sources believe it was with Tony Woodley, the joint general secretary of Unite. Indeed, McCluskey may just have escaped for a moment's peace on a still winter afternoon. Whatever happened, he returned 10 minutes later with a statement that convulsed Britain's flag carrier and nearly a million passengers: the 12-day strike was on.
When the Liverpudlian former dock worker told the press an hour later that Unite had taken the decision to disrupt Christmas with "a heavy heart", he probably meant it. Bassa is in no danger of splitting from Unite – for practical reasons alone it needs Unite's financial and legal support – but the relationship is tempestuous. Tension has lingered since Woodley brokered a peace deal with Walsh to call off a looming cabin crew strike in 2007 as general secretary of the T&G, Unite's predecessor. Some Bassa members were so determined to strike that there was anger over Woodley's determination to hammer out a truce – even if it came with a pay rise.
A source who observed Walsh's behaviour last week says the BA chief executive appeared to act "with sorrow more than anger" in ordering his lawyers to the high court. The source says that Walsh appeared to be shocked by cabin crew's determination to inflict damage on the airline that could have run to more than £200m. The prospect of a peace deal still seems remote, however. Woodley and Simpson offered a settlement that would have seen the strikes suspended if BA reversed staff cuts and made payments to cabin crew totalling about £400,000 per week. However, that was not getting anywhere in private talks with Walsh before Mrs Justice Cox intervened on Thursday.
There is admiration within Unite for Bassa's communications set-up – a well-run leafleting and internet campaign that drove an 80% turnout and an overwhelming majority in the vote. But there is also concern about Bassa's distance from the rest of the union and from other BA staff. One former BA executive has told the
Observer that antipathy between cabin crew and other BA employees – pilots were seen congratulating the airline's lawyers at the hearing that threw out the strike – might have boiled over had the strike gone ahead. Bassa's mindset is strengthened by a degree of financial independence, taking around £5 out of every member's £16 monthly dues, with the rest going to Unite.
At the end of a tumultuous week, a Bassa source called for more support as Unite prepared to launch a new strike ballot in January. Bassa had wanted to take out a full-page advert in the
Daily Mail to argue the union's case because the paper is the most popular of the giveaway papers among BA passengers. Unite said no and after a week of
Daily Mail reporters doorstepping Bassa representatives, a Bassa source admits ruefully: "We probably won't do it with the
Daily Mail even if we do run an advert next time." Woodley's counterpart, joint general secretary Derek Simpson, gave an insight into the thinking of senior figures in Unite when he admitted in a TV interview that a 12-day walkout was "probably over the top".
The Bassa source said: "We recognise that it is a marriage that has to work and we just want Unite to come to marriage guidance counselling with us. It's just that we are all used to working 24/7, 365 days per year and we would like a service like that in return." The opinions on Bassa's internet forum are less conciliatory, labelling the unlawful ballot "a disgrace" due to Unite's role in it. Nonetheless, if some cabin crew uttered a desire to split from Unite in 2007, the rift is not wide enough for those thoughts to gain traction this time around.
About 24 hours after voices were raised in that Sandown meeting room, Woodley and Simpson met Bassa representatives to say that they were behind the strike and would fight hard for concessions in talks with Walsh. Thursday's high court hearing gave them no time to keep that promise, but it is likely that January will give them another chance.