BA strike: Ban lifted by High Court

BA strike: Ban lifted by High Court

Page last updated at 13:39 GMT, Thursday, 20 May 2010 14:39 UK

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Derek Simpson, Unite: 'BA case was irresponsible'

Fresh BA strikes look set to go ahead next week after a panel of judges overturned a ban on industrial action.

BA was granted an injunction on Monday after the High Court ruled that the Unite union had not reported results of its strike ballot correctly to members.

Unite's success means a series of five-day strikes could start on Monday unless an agreement can be found.

"We shouldn't have been in this process," said Unite's Derek Simpson. BA was "disappointed" with the ruling.

The panel ruled 2-1 in favour of overturning the injunction.

The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, and Lady Justice Smith upheld Unite's appeal. The Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, rejected it.
'Trivial case'

Unite members outside the court sang "we are the champions" after the verdict was announced.
Continue reading the main story

Unite's strikes have failed twice and they will fail again

BA statement Do we still have a right to strike?

But Mr Simpson, Unite's joint leader, said: "This is not a moment for being triumphant. We shouldn't have been in this process.

"The case brought by BA was trivial and, in my opinion, irresponsible."

He added that cabin crew would not go on strike before Monday, when a five-day strike was due to begin.

Mr Simpson also called on BA to "go that extra mile" to negotiate a settlement.

The two sides have been involved in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions.

But Unite says the stumbling blocks now are travel perks that were taken away from members who went on strike in March and disciplinary action taken against more than 50 of its members.
Contingency plans

BA said it was "disappointed for our customers" that Unite's appeal had been upheld.

"We will implement our contingency plan to keep British Airways flying," the company said in a statement.

"We are confident that thousands of cabin crew will ignore Unite's strike call and help us fly more than 70% of the customers who were booked to fly with us in the period targeted."

The ruling in favour of BA on Monday meant that Unite's first planned strike, scheduled to begin on Tuesday, ending on 22 May, could not go ahead.

Despite this, flights have been disrupted this week as the airline was unable to reinstate all services.

Three further five-day stoppages are due to begin on 24 May, 30 May and 5 June.

"Unite's strikes have failed twice and they will fail again," BA added, referring to this week's injunction and one the airline won in December, preventing cabin crew from striking over Christmas.