British Airways’ junior cabin crew have voted to strike at any time from December 21 due to what it calls “poverty pay and broken promises”.
Meanwhile, one of Virgin Atlantic’s pilots’ unions is also balloting staff over industrial action that may take place on December 23 and 24.
At BA, the junior fleet makes up 15% of BA’s flight attendants, and belongs to a flexible unit set up to work on both long-haul and short-haul flights. Pay for this group is lower than other flight attendants at the airline. The Unite union claims that many of the mixed fleet crew earn just over the minimum wage and below the national average. The employees have rejected a proposed pay increase of 2%.
British Airways stated: “We have proposed a fair and reasonable pay increase to mixed fleet cabin crew which is in line with that accepted by other British Airways colleagues and which will ensure their reward levels remain in line with cabin crew at our airline competitors.”
The airline is seeking to resolve the dispute as quickly as possible without disruption to passengers.
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