British Airways’ (BA) attempts to get a high-court injunction against its pilots’ threatened strike has failed. Rather than return to the negotiating table, BA will now look to appeal the decision, though no date has been given for this.
Despite over 90% of BA’s other staff, represented by unions including Unite and GMB, looking to accept an 11.5% pay deal spread over three years, the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) recommended rejection of the offer which was ratified by ballot with 93% of BA’s 4,000 pilots voting in favor of strike action. BA’s grounds for a proposed injunction were that there were flaws in the ballot papers submitted to pilots and that the union had failed to provide BA with details of the vote for each category of pilots, i.e. their rank and the fleet they worked on. Commenting on the decision, BALPA’s general secretary, Brian Strutton, said: “I’ve just heard from British Airways that instead of coming back to the negotiating table with us they’re going to appeal. Now that means the next few days, maybe the next week, is going to be spent preparing for an appeal hearing, whereas I’d actually rather they came back to Acas [the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service] and tried to find a resolution with us.”
A spokesperson for British Airways said: “We are very disappointed with today’s decision. We will continue to pursue every avenue to protect the holidays of thousands of our customers this summer.
