BA Christmas strike halted by UK High Court

BRITISH Airways cabin crew walkout has been blocked by the High Court, after ruling that the strike ballot was illegal.This means nearly four million BA passengers can now complete their journeys as planned over the Christmas period.The court intervention is a climb down for the Unite union, which had considered delaying the announcement of a massive walkout earlier this week after receiving repeated warnings from BA executives that the vote was likely to be invalid.The high court confirmed those fears by granting BA’s request for an injunction against the strike after around 900 cabin crew were balloted despite taking voluntary redundancy. Mrs Justice Cox ruled that the balloting error breached the 1992 Trade Union Act.Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of Unite, acknowledged that there would be “great euphoria” among hundreds of thousands of passengers.
BA said it was “delighted” that the threat of a Christmas strike has been lifted by the court.“There was never any need for a strike and we hope that Unite will take this opportunity to reflect before deciding its next steps. We believe the public would want that too. In recent days, we believe Unite has formed a better understanding of our position and of the ways in which we could move forward,” BA stated.There is now the threat of strike action in the New Year.
 

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