midman wrote:
An indefinite strike will play right into BA's hands as they will simply ignore it, bypass BASSA completely, and speak directly to the crew that come in in their droves, as they were doing last weekend.
Willie Walsh has repeatedly said that the dispute will be settled by negotiation, and I believe that he believes that. I also believe that Unite will now be much less willing to call another strike. Walsh said that 73% of rostered cabin crew reported for work on 30 March compared with 57% on 20 March. Nobody in their right mind can deny that increasing numbers of crew will work through further strikes. There are some, though, who think that BASSA are not thinking this through, so by this time next week we may well know which faction in Unite has the upper hand.
Although BA can and should speak directly with crew, I do not believe that Walsh wants to deal directly with them on matters such as balloting as he is sensitive to the accusation of undermining the unions. It's worth remembering that BA needs the unions to collaborate with on a range of issues, e.g. the pension deficit.
So, there will be more discussions between BA and Unite. The main question, I think, is how to deal with the issue of staff travel as neither side is willing to back down.