British Airways and Unite have been at loggerheads over their unfair firing and hiring of the workforce in its cargo division.
However, Unite union has now secured a deal to end the long running dispute after BA’s new CEO Sean Doyle became directly involved.
Members of Unite employed at BA Cargo, the majority of whom work at Heathrow Airport, undertook nine days of strike action over the Christmas/New Year period which caused overwhelming disruption to the company’s cargo services.
Unite had proposed a total of a further nine days of strike action beginning on Friday 22nd January but the first three days were called off at the last minute, after progress was made at the negotiations. The next round of strikes due to begin this weekend have also been called off.
The key points of the deal agreed between Unite and British Airways are as follows:
- End of fire and rehire (the last area of BA where this was a threat)
- Workers will revert to previous contractual provisions subject to agreed changes
- No compulsory redundancies
- Improved pay protection for staff whose pay sits above the new agreed rates
- An increase in pay for a significant proportion of staff
- Members who did not sign the new contract and were dismissed will be offered their jobs back on the agreed terms.
