Unite Union Warns British Airways that Followup Strike is Still on

Unite leaders have just recently announced that the four day strike action that is suppose to start on Saturday is still on unless British Airways offers up a substantial deal. British Airways has to show a willingness to talk and actually negotiate.

Tony Woodley, Unite’s joint general secretary, said that he expects Brendan Barber, who is the general secretary of the TUC, to resume mediation attempts. Despite this, there have been no official reports that more talks have been scheduled. Of course, the problem has not been getting these two sides to talk, because they have had tons of talks. The problem has been getting them to agree on anything.

When Tony Woodley was asked if the four day walkout this coming weekend will take place, he said that it looks like it at the moment. He went on to say that he does not think that there is any doubt the strike will go ahead, because he does not see a willingness on British Airways’ part to agree to a reasonable settlement. A spokesman for British Airways said that the airline has been and always will be available for talks.

On top of this, British Airways and the Unite union are playing a tug of war game on how effective the strike was. The Unite union is claiming that only 6,000 people flew through Heathrow yesterday. However, British Airways said that its schedule could cope with 49,000 customers across their entire airline. The carrier went on to say that 50,000 customers traveled to their destinations just the other day, with only about 25,000 unable to fly. Thus, it is easy to see some variations in both stories.