So British Airways and UNITE reach the “end” of another tussle, with BA winning on a technicality
The judge agreed with British Airways on a technicality of the ballot if Unite followed rules in contacting its members with strike result details.
Lets get onto the quotes. BA Say….
“We are delighted for our customers that Unite’s plans for extreme and unjustified strike action cannot go ahead.”
“Ash disruption permitting, we will aim to restore a full flying programme at Heathrow by the weekend. We will also offer a full programme at Gatwick and London City, as planned,”
Unite comments:
“This was no challenge to the democracy and the legitimacy of the ballot.
“This was a pure technicality revolving around the notification, the communication of the result to our members which we believe was absolutely right and absolutely in compliance of the law.
“We used tried and tested methods to communicate with a global workforce that, at any one point, could be at any point around the globe.”
and of course…
“an affront to democracy in this country”.
(Who wasn’t waiting for that line….)
Unite are obviously pissed, and are of course are going to attempt to get this ruling overturned, and are aiming to be firmly back in the courts tomorrow (Tuesday)
This is but a short term victory – they have GOT to fix it, and this could lead to people not choosing to fly BA due to the possible disruptions. By doing this, British Airways has possibly brought itself a summers worth of trouble…
Talks are still continuing at ACAS but this isn’t going to make life any easier…
