British Airways to hold talks with Unite

British Airways is anticipated to hold talks with unions later with the aim to avert a dispute with check-in workers and other customer service staff.

Officials from the GMB and Unite unions will meet with airline management to discuss the planned cost cutting measures and job losses.

The Unite union has already announced a ballot to take industrial action among almost 14,000 cabin crew in protest of the imposition of the new employment contracts next month.

The struggling airline plans to cut 3,700 jobs in addition to the 2,500 which have already gone since 2008.

Negotiations with check-in staff ended without agreement in the summer, and the meeting is being viewed as an attempt to get talks back on track.

Willie Walsh, chief executive for the airline, will lead the meeting for the carrier, which was normal procedure, as national officer of Unite, Steve Turner, said that there were fears that BA’s airport staff would be outsourced, rosters changed and a new, lower rate of pay introduced for new employees.

He also claimed that BA was planning to cull 1,250 among that part of the workforce, which included about 800 at Heathrow.

Earlier this week, the airline said it had been disappointed by the Unite union’s decision to ballot cabin crew about whether to take strike action.

Management and unions had been in talks since the beginning of the announcement of cost-cutting strategies earlier this month.