Last-ditch strike talks collapse (From Runcorn and Widnes World)

Last-ditch strike talks collapse

2:23pm Friday 19th March 2010 in

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Talks aimed at averting strikes by British Airways cabin crew have collapsed and the action will go ahead from midnight.

Officials from the Unite union have been locked in talks with the airline's chief executive, Willie Walsh, this week in a bid to find a breakthrough in a bitter row over cost-cutting.

Unite's joint leader, Tony Woodley, said he was "extremely disappointed" that the efforts to head off a three-day strike from Saturday had failed and accused BA of wanting a "war" with the union.

Mr Woodley emerged from five hours of talks with Mr Walsh at the TUC headquarters in London to say that "hawks" on the BA board had won the day.

He said BA had tabled a worse offer than one withdrawn last week after the union announced this weekend's strike, and another four-day walkout from March 27.

"I am extremely disappointed for the travelling public and our members, but this union will now support our members, while remaining open for talks with the company. It is with great disappointment that I have to say the strike will go ahead. It is an absolute disgrace and an insult to our people that he (Mr Walsh) tabled a deal that reduced the amount of pay on offer. It is ridiculous to expect anyone to go to their membership with a worse offer."

Mr Walsh left the TUC a few minutes after Mr Woodley, describing the industrial action as "completely unjustified".

"It is deeply regrettable that a proposal I have tabled to Unite, which I believe is fair and sensible and addresses all the concerns of cabin crew, has not been accepted. The offer remains available, but it will be withdrawn once industrial action commences. Tens of thousands of BA people now stand ready to serve our customers. BA will be flying tomorrow and will continue to fly through these periods of industrial action.

"I remain available to talk, but our business must make changes. I am disappointed that the union have not been able to accept our sensible proposals."

Mr Walsh agreed that the new deal tabled in the current round of talks was not the same as the one withdrawn last week, arguing that BA had incurred "significant" extra expense because of the cost of its contingency plans and the number of passengers who have cancelled flights. The financial value of the new offer was not as attractive as the previous one because BA had to recover the money it had lost.