BA cabin crews vote for strike action
22-Jan-2011 British Airways pilots and flight attendants have voted overwhelmingly for strikes, their union announced Saturday.
The union, United, said almost 80 percent of those who participated in the ballot, supported job actions, The Guardian reported. Len McCluskey, the general secretary designate, said the vote is a call for BA to "wake up and listen" to its employees and to come to the bargaining table.
No dates for strikes were announced. Under British law, the union must begin any job action within 28 days of the vote and must announce it seven days ahead of time.
The airline has tried to prepare for strikes by creating a workforce that can take over cabin crew jobs and has promised it would operate all of its long-haul flights. The auxiliary force includes 500 retrained pilots.
Cabin crews struck for a total of 22 days last year, with some of the walkouts occurring over five days.
BA and Iberia are about to merge to form what would be called the International Aviation Group. The two carriers would maintain their separate identities.