It seems British Airways attempt to overturn the proposed strike by BALPA members has failed – with the case thrown out of the Court of Appeal.
British Airways Boeing 787-9 – Image, Economy Class and Beyond.
As such, the proposed strike action over pay is still in play. BALPA have to legally give 14 days notice to British Airways over dates of strike action.
For now, BALPA are withholding from announcing strike dates, with them wanting to meet at ACAS for the rest of the week in an attempt to break the deadlock.
In Quotes
BALPAA General Secretary, Brian Strutton, said:
“The Court of Appeal has today rightly dismissed BA’s attempt to injunct this industrial action on a technicality.
“BA’s attempt to defeat the democratic view of their pilots in court, rather than deal with us across the negotiating table, has sadly wasted huge amounts of time and money that could have been put into finding a peaceful resolution. Now the window for negotiation and compromise is closing fast.”
“BA need to wake up to reality. Our ballot returned 93% in favour of strike action. There is a serious issue here and BA has so far refused to help us tackle it.
“On BA’s own figures submitted to the court, even a single day of strike action will cost far more than we believe it would take to settle this dispute.
“However, BALPA wants to resolve this matter through negotiation and so we are not announcing strike dates. Instead, we have called on BA to hold further talks at ACAS and they have agreed to meet at ACAS today and for the rest of this week for one last try to resolve this dispute by negotiation.
“We have spent four days in talks at ACAS already, and BA refused to move their position one iota. But we hope they now recognise the seriousness of the situation and will work positively with us to find a way forward.
“We are not announcing strike dates today. In any event we are required by law to provide BA with 14 days’ notice of any proposed strike action.”
British Airways travel advice has been updated, with them quoting
We have been working with the pilots’ union, BALPA, to reach an agreement on pay. Unfortunately, this afternoon, our legal challenge to protect our customers against industrial action this summer was unsuccessful.
BALPA has yet to issue any strike dates, so we are continuing to run a full schedule.
We would ask you to review your contact details by visiting Manage My Booking, or by contacting your travel agent, so that we can get in touch with you directly if there are any changes to your booking.
Flights on BA CityFlyer to and from London City Airport are unaffected by this industrial action, and will continue to offer a full schedule over the period.
We understand how precious your summer holidays are and we are very sorry BALPA has called this strike action. We will continue to exhaust every possible means to avoid it and we urge BALPA to return to talks as soon as possible.
It’s good to talk
With the path cleared to allow a strike, BALPA can move at its leisure when they want to announce the strikes. But they are giving talking a chance – with more meetings at ACAS (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) planned.
One can hope that these talk can stave off an industrial dispute that will be damaging for all sides – no matter the money involved.
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