'Confident' union orders airline strike ballot

BARRIE CLEMENT

Labour Editor

Union leaders at British Airways yesterday ordered a ballot on strikes which could begin by grounding August bank holiday flights and lead to an indefinite stoppage.

Leaders of the Transport and General Workers' Union declared their confidence that the vote would elicit "overwhelming" support for industrial action in protest at the break-up of BA's national negotiating system.

The news came as British Rail urged train drivers' leaders to respond by noon today to a proposed peace package to avert Friday's 24-hour strike - the first of six day-long walkouts.

A spokesman for Aslef, the train drivers' union, declared his surprise at the deadline, which comes some time before the industrial action was due to start.

British Rail announced it will impose a 3 per cent pay increase on other workers, members of the RMT union, who voted against strike action.

Aslef last night wrote off the move as "intimidation". "The imposition of the 3 per cent is an attempt at intimidating workers who have exercised their democratic right in a secret ballot to vote for strike action," the spokesman said.

But he added that the continuing "exploratory" peace talks with BR were a sign of Aslef's determination to reach some sort of agreement. It is understood that while BR has refused to move on a 3 per cent pay offer, more money could be available through productivity deals.

Meanwhile up to 1,000 BA employees lobbied the company's annual general meeting yesterday at the Barbican in the City of London in a failed attempt to change management's mind over a plan to introduce local bargaining.

A company spokesman however was keen to lower the temperature, arguing that discussion was not yet complete. "The union needs to think about the travelling public, our customers and our employees and come back to the negotiating table because they will find us still there."

George Ryde, national officer of the T&G, said the action could begin with 24-hour stoppages, followed by two-day walkouts and end in an indefinite strike. The intensity of the campaign would depend on the majority achieved in the ballot which is due to begin in seven days' time and end a month later.

Mr Ryde said his members were determined to defend the present bargaining structure because they assumed the company's strategy was aimed at keeping wages down.

Speaking at the biennial conference of the T&G, he pointed out that the union had never received a negative response to a strike ballot at the company.

The union had decided against the conventional form of ballot in which members are asked whether they would be prepared to take action short of strikes. He said there was no point in the union using a "feather duster" when it was confident of winning an overwhelming majority in favour of strikes.

The company has given notice that the present central negotiating structure will be abolished in October and replaced by a bargaining system based on BA's 22 business units.

Bob Ayling, BA's group managing director, said there was no plan to cut pay or threaten jobs. But without change the company would be unable to compete and that would threaten redundancies.

BA annual meeting, page 16