AHTA Watching BA Situation

Details

Tourism News

Wednesday, 16 December 2009 05:55

By Afeefah Beharry

General Manager of the Antigua Hotel and Tourist Association (AHTA) Neil Forrester said the association will closely monitor developments at British Airways as the airline’s cabin crew has threatened to strike during the busy Christmas season.

Forrester told Caribarena that the strike could have implications for Antigua & Barbuda, because this is a very busy time, especially for the hotels. He does not think the airline will sit back and allow the strike to take place, and is hoping that something can be done before next week.

The strikes are to begin on December 22 and run until January 2.

The Unite union balloted 13,000 cabin crew members on industrial action as part of a dispute over job losses and changes to working practices.

However, BA is commencing legal action to prevent the strike.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the UK carrier said it had asked Unite to call off the industrial action by 1400 GMT Tuesday, but because the union failed to do so, the airline is now seeking an injunction to prevent the strike from going ahead. A hearing on the injunction is due to take place in the High Court on Wednesday.

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“As a backup to the legal action, British Airways managers have been establishing which cabin crew might wish to work normally during the strike period," BA said.

Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh said the airline is determined to do whatever is necessary to protect customers from this "appalling, unjustified decision from Unite".

BA wants three quarters of its crew to accept a pay raise of between 2 and 7 percent this year, which will be frozen next year, and for 3,000 staff to switch to working part-time, along with a reduction in onboard crew levels from 15 to 14 on long-haul flights from London Heathrow.

BA plays a big role in the weekly airlift of passengers to and from the United Kingdom.

 

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