British Airways Gets Backing from Ryanair Boss to Break Union
Stewart PerryThe strike that is causing a lot of problems for British Airways passengers has just recently ended its fourth day. This news comes after talks between the carrier and the Unite union, which is the union that is representing the airline’s cabin crew, failed to reach an agreement.
Although British Airways seems to be in a tight fix, the airline has found an ally in a very unlikely spot. The Ryanair chief executive, Michael O’Leary, has praised British Airways management and wants to help break the union’s strangle hold on the company.
Mr O’Leary said that the British Airways management has done an amazing job. A more intelligent union leadership would do a deal, he added.
Right now the failure to reach a deal between the Unite union and British Airways is based on just one point. The airline has removed travel perks from cabin crew members who took part in the first strikes and refuses to fully reinstate them. The airline did say that they would give back the travel perks, but the members who took part in the strikes would have to be treated as new recruits.
The union said that it would call off the strikes if the travel concessions are reinstated for the cabin crew members. However, they only agree to do this if the travel concession are reinstated ahead of agreeing on a final deal. British Airways said that it did offer, at one point, to put these concession back in place, but only as part of a final agreement.
Although the union is doing what it can to keep British Airways down, the power of the union has been waning somewhat during the dispute. British Airways has already announced that it will be operating more than 80 percent of its long haul flights during the next 5-day strike.
/images/rssicon.jpg "Subscribe to RSS feed")
Subscribe for free and recieve the latest Self-Catering-Breaks news and stories
Filed under Business & Finance, Travel News, UK News