BA granted injunction to stop cabin crew strikes
British Airways has been granted an injunction to stop the Unite union from carrying out cabin crew strikes that had been due to start at midnight tonight.
The High Court ruling, based on a technicality in the balloting procedure, is set to delay the start of the first of a four five-day strikes planned for May and June.
Unite conceded it would have to call off tonight’s strikes but said it would appeal immediately, meaning the case could reach the Court of Appeal as soon as tomorrow.
BA said there will still be some disruption to flights from Heathrow in the early hours of tomorrow morning because it had already put in place contingency plans for the strike.
The injunction offers temporary respite to BA in its long-running dispute with Unite over jobs, pay and staffing, and some relief to travellers many of whom have already seen their plans disrupted by volcanic ash.
The High Court found that the union failed to comply with the legal requirement to “send everyone eligible to vote details of the exact breakdown of the ballot result”.
In a statement, the airline said: “We are delighted for our customers that Unite's plans for extreme and unjustified strike action cannot go ahead.
“We are sorry the court judgment cannot undo the disruption already suffered by some customers who were due to travel during the early days of the union's industrial action.”
Unite’s chief officer for aviation, Steve Turner, said it was “an affront to democracy in our country when our members… can vote in a very open and democratic ballot and that still be ruled unlawful.”
He criticised BA’s “vindictiveness”, after it removed some staff travel benefits and took disciplinary action against 50 staff. “That vindictiveness will not lead to a resolution."
BA had rearranged its Heathrow schedule last Thursday, providing for only 60% of long-haul and 50% of short-haul flights, to take into account the planned strike and prevent passengers from facing last-minute disruptions.
It said a full service would be back in place at Heathrow by the weekend, while the normal timetable would proceed at Gatwick and London City airports, as previously announced.
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