British Airways cabin crew representatives are to move quickly to a second strike ballot following the court injunction that blocked its initial plans for 12 days of industrial action.
The Unite union is to head directly to a fresh ballot following the setback at the High Court yesterday where a judge ruled a strike vote invalid on technical grounds. The union has yet to set a date for a second ballot.
Unite has scorned the High Court ruling, branding it "clearly political", and claiming that the union did "everything possible" to comply with "complex" laws.
The strength of opinion shown during the first ballot, it says, makes a second inevitable unless British Airways backs down over its newly-implemented changes to cabin crew working practices.
Unite has told its members that the court ruling was "not about the legitimacy" of the cabin crew demands, nor about "denying the strength of the majority feeling" expressed during the first ballot.
While the result showed that more than 90% of voters were in favour of striking, it is unclear how considerations of public reaction to the length and timing of the strike will affect a second ballot.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
