Planned BA Strike ruled to be Illegal

The much publisised British Airway’s cabin crew strike, planned to be held over Christmas, has been ruled to be Illegal in a High Court hearing.

The Judged found that Unite - the cabin crew’s Union, had not held the Balloting of it’s members in accordance with the correct procedures, and as such the planned 12 day strike could not proceed.

Derek Simpson for Unite called the ruling "a disgraceful day for democracy" and promised that a fresh ballot of cabin crew would be held if the dispute with BA was not resolved.

He conceded that there would be "great euphoria" among travelers this Christmas, but that Unite would immediately start to organise another ballot alongside its continuing negotiations with BA. If the Union continues with a second ballot, Commercial law would mean that any new industrial action could not officially take place until well into the New Year.

The ruling judge agreed with BA that the ballot was invalid because it included the votes of a number of employees who had already accepted voluntary redundancy.

British Airways released a statement, noting how the decision would be “welcomed by hundreds of thousands of families in the UK and around the world". They went on to mention how "There was never any need for a strike and we hope that Unite will take this opportunity to reflect before deciding its next steps .It has also become very clear that our customers do not believe that old-style trade union militancy is relevant to our efforts to move British Airways back toward profitability."