The Unite union has given 29 June as its deadline for British Airways to show that it is ‘willing to negotiate a solution to the fresh issues between the parties’ or it will hold a new ballot on strike action.

According to Unite, the three issues to discuss are the airline’s utilisation of other employees as cover for cabin crew; the cancellation of travel perks for crew who initially went on strike; and the disciplinary action which BA has taken against some members which the union considers to be ‘vindictive, disproportionate and unnecessary’.

In response, BA criticised the union for seemingly wishing to disrupt ‘the summer holidays of tens of thousands of families’ and vowed to try and run as full a service as possible. Some sources estimate that walkouts have already cost British Airways some £150m this year.

Source: bbc.co.uk/22.06.2010