Thousands of British Airways (BA) cabin crew begin voting today (16 November) over potential Christmas strike action.
The Unite union has issued ballot papers in a dispute over changes to working practices, which come into force today, with the result due on 14 December, raising the threat of strikes in the days before Christmas.
BA is cutting the cabin crew staff on long-haul flights from 15 to 14. Unite said it was concerned the BA changes will place crew under additional stress during flights, with customer service suffering.
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The union is also challenging the changes in the courts, but a hearing is not expected until February next year.
BA has said the changes are “fair and reasonable, given our urgent need to reduce costs so we can move back towards profitability after two years of the worst financial losses in our history”.
