BA strike leader urges fresh talks
35 mins ago
The leader of striking British Airways cabin crew has made a fresh appeal for talks to end their dispute, which he said had cost the airline tens of millions of pounds. Skip related content
Tony Woodley, joint leader of Unite, also mounted another attack on the company for trying to "browbeat" its staff into accepting worse pay and conditions.
Mr Woodley, addressing a rally of striking union members at a football ground near Heathrow airport, said it was the "economics of the madhouse" for BA to be spending money on contingency plans to deal with a three-day strike by thousands of cabin crew, which ends at midnight on Monday, rather than seeking to resolve a bitter row over cost-cutting.
The dispute is costing BA tens of millions of pounds, with flights leaving empty of passengers and aircraft being leased from other firms at an estimated cost of £300,000 a time, he claimed.
He said: "The economics of the madhouse should now be put to one side. We need to reach a sensible, fair deal, to get this company up and running again, to get passengers flying again, to get all of the planes off the ground."
Mr Woodley, who has appealed to the BA chairman and "sensible" members of the board to intervene in the row, said the dispute was "extremely serious", adding that the only way to resolve it was for negotiations to resume.
It is understood that Mr Woodley has contacted TUC general secretary Brendan Barber about restarting talks which collapsed last week after BA tabled an offer Unite complained was worse than a previous one, which they could not recommend or even put to members.
To cheers from striking cabin crew, Mr Woodley said: "It is important to remain strong and determined to get a settlement you know is fair. Keep your heads up."
Business group London First, whose members include many of London's internationally-based businesses, said the capital's reputation as a centre for global trade was being damaged by the strike.
Chief executive Baroness Valentine said: "Despite the best efforts of BA management and many staff to continue to put the interests of passengers first, the strike is reminiscent of a best-forgotten era. The message from BA's London-based business customers to both sides is: Get back to the negotiating table, and to union members: Get back to work in the meantime."
The economics of the mad house!!!!! Oh dear