Union representing British Airways cabin crew says members reject company’s offer

BA cabin crew reject company’s latest offer

LONDON — The union representing British Airways cabin crew said Tuesday that its members have rejected the company’s latest offer over pay and working conditions.

British Airways and Unite, which represents around 11,000 cabin crew, have been embroiled in a long-running, acrimonious dispute that has resulted in 22 days of strikes and cost the carrier millions of pounds (dollars).

BA’s offer included a payment to guarantee existing crew won’t lose out on route allowances, and guaranteed raises in basic pay for two years beginning in February.

Unite said their members had voted 3,419 to 1,686 against the latest offer — a result British Airways interpreted as showing a lack of support for the union.

“Such a low turnout raises serious questions for Unite and shows it does not have a clear mandate to reject our offer,” the company said in a statement. “We would urge them to come back to the table to sign the agreement and end the dispute.”

The union said it would meet with its members’ representatives to determine their next steps, and Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley urged BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh to return to negotiations.

Woodley said Walsh needed to recognize only 15 percent of the airline’s cabin crew had cast their ballots in favor of the offer — though the company’s statement said they were “encouraged by the result of this ballot which shows that 73 per cent of our cabin crew did not reject our offer.”

Woodley, meanwhile, said it was “really important that Willie Walsh wakes up and understands that the vast majority of his employees have decided not to accept this offer.”