21 January 2011
British Airways cabin crew members of Unite have voted in support of industrial action by a huge margin.
Unite balloted 10,220 cabin crew. They voted as follows on the question “are you prepared to take part in strike action”:
Number of ballot papers returned = 7,335
Number of ballot papers found to be invalid = 5
Total number of papers counted = 7,330
Number voting YES = 5,751 (78.5% of valid vote)
Number voting NO = 1,579 (21.5%)
Unite general secretary-designate Len McCluskey said today: “For the fourth time in 13 months British Airways cabin crew have voted overwhelmingly in support of their union and expressed their dissatisfaction with management behaviour. Indeed, the turnout and the majority on this occasion are much greater than in the last ballot.
“Surely BA management must now wake up and listen to the voice of its skilled and dedicated employees. This dispute will be resolved by negotiation, not litigation or confrontation, and it is to negotiation that BA management should now apply itself. We are ready.”
ENDS
Turnout for the ballot was 75 per cent.