British Airways Now Faces New Strike Threat for February

Just because British Airways was able to avoid the Christmas strike threat, does not mean that the company is out of the woods just yet. In fact, it now appears that British Airways could be hit by another strike threat in February. Unions are gearing up for a New Year’s ballot for industrial action.

The Unite union is updating its membership list of cabin crew members to ensure that the next strike ballot is not ruled unlawful. The fact that the courts ruled the last ballot as unlawful was the only thing that kept the staff from striking on Christmas.

Just earlier this month, the High Court granted British Airways an injunction, because staff who had accepted the voluntary redundancy had voted on the ballot. This means that people who did not actually work for British Airways anymore had voted for industrial action. This kept the planned 12-day strike from ever happening.

It will now take at least a month to organize another ballot. If crew again vote for a walkout, Unite is obliged to give British Airways seven days notice of the industrial action. Thus, around mid to late February would be the earliest date that another strike could take place.

The ruling against the strike referred to the length of the planned strike. This means that it is unlikely that Unite will opt for another 12-day walkout. Also, the ruling referred to the time of the year. This means that Unite is also very likely to avoid taking action during high passenger volume times of the year. This includes school holidays and Easter.