Stewards and saloon personnel of British Airways will start a four-day strike on June 16, as part of the ongoing wage dispute, announced the trade union of the carrier’s cabin staff. The syndicate Unite said the staff strike was also triggered by the airline’s stubborn refusal to rebuild bonuses taken from employees for their involvement in previous strikes.
The crews will strike because of the low pay and poor working conditions of the employees.
The upcoming strike will create new problems for British Airways, which recently collapsed in its computer system and tens of thousands of passengers were waiting for hours at London airports. The workers have staged a total of 26 strike days since the beginning of January, forcing British Airways to wet lease aircraft and cancel flights.
The air carrier says mixed fleet crew’s pay and rewards were in line with competitors.
“As on the previous dates when Unite called strikes of mixed fleet cabin crew, we will fly all our customers to their destinations. Strike action is completely unnecessary. We had reached a deal on pay, which Unite’s national officers agreed was acceptable. We urge Unite to put the pay proposals to a vote of their members”, responded the carrier to protesters.
British Airways is the largest airline in the United Kingdom based on fleet size, or the second largest, behind easyJet, when measured by passengers carried.
