The BA strike is now so unpopular that even Prime Minister Gordon Brown – whose Labour Party is a key beneficiary of the Unite trade union – has come out opposing walkouts.
Unite has donated £11 million to Labour over the past four years, which according to political commentators amounts to one quarter of all donations received by the party.
And yet despite the sensitive timing in the run-up to the General Election, Mr Brown has heeded the public outrage and this morning unleashed a furious attack on the BA strike.
Breaking his silence on the issue, the PM told BBC Radio 4: "We should not have a strike.
"It's not in the company's interest, it's not in the workers' interest and it's certainly not in the national interest. We have got to find a way in which the two sides can get together."
The Labour leader's comments follow this weekend's remarks by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, who warned that the BA strike will "threaten the very existence of British Airways".
That assessment provoked an angry response from Unite, which is reported to have contacted Downing Street to formally protest the "uninformed" and "blundering" intervention.
BA cabin crew have twice voted in favour of strike action in recent months, voicing complaints about reduced staffing levels on flights and lower pay for new recruits. But with BA flight attendants being among the highest paid in the industry public sympathy for crew is at an all-time low.
According to official figures from the Civil Aviation Authority, the average salary for BA cabin crew is £29,900, including allowances, which compares with £14,400 at Virgin Atlantic.
Unite's furious reaction to the criticism from Whitehall comes after BA boss Willie Walsh side-stepped the union by revoking his latest reconciliation offer. The airline chief said the union's decision to announce dates meant that BA would now have to impose deeper cuts to recover further losses.
British Airways already lost £401 million in the last financial year and is on-track to sink a further £600 million into the red in 2009/10. The flag carrier is also battling a pension deficit of £3.7 billion.
BA is expected to finalise details of which flights will be affected by the strike later today. Unless a resolution is reached, the walkouts will occur on 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29 and 30 March.
© Cheapflights Ltd (Creative Commons image: markhillary / Flickr)
Comments:
Craig Barker - 27 March, 2010 at 8:32 am
Is it only me that thinks this strike is ridiculous? I would be prepared to bet that for every person at BA who is striking there would be one person whom is out of work, is capable of that job and would be more than willing to work for BA. There are so many people who are out of work or who have had their pay cut during this recession. These people should be grateful to have a job. What will they do if BA collapse? Surely making their employer suffer financially will jeopardise everyones job at BA? That does not even take into consideration all the people who use BA, that are suffering as a result of the employees selfishness. If you don't like your job, leave.