Tonight:
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BA crews to work rota until hearing
6 Nov 2009- No movement in independence talks
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British Airways cabin crews have agreed "unwillingly" to work the new schedules brought in by the airline until a full trial of the dispute next year.
The two sides agreed to come back on February 1 after out-of-court discussions following legal submissions from counsel for the Unite union.
That estimated five-day hearing will resolve whether there should be a permanent injunction preventing BA from imposing cost-cutting proposals due to start on November 16.
BA says it is entitled unilaterally to reduce cabin crew complements on board their Worldwide and Eurofleet flights as these are not terms of individual cabin crew members' contracts.
But Unite has said BA would be in breach of contract by imposing the changes as the existing crew complements were fixed by collective agreements with the unions and were "expressly incorporated" into their individual contracts of employment.
Its QC, John Hendy, told Mr Justice Butterfield at London's High Court that the changes would "materially and detrimentally affect the health and well-being of staff and passengers on board the flights". BA's stance was that, while there would be a "modest increase in work output" for cabin crew, there were no health and safety concerns and the granting of an injunction would be a "commercial catastrophe". After the trial date was agreed, Unite's QC John Hendy told the judge: "In the light of that fixture, my clients are prepared unwillingly to work the new schedules for the period of time up to the end of that trial."
The judge dismissed the application for an interim injunction, commenting: "The parties have come to a compromise which I may very well have reached if I had been left to determine the matter in any event."
BA said in a statement on Thursday: "Naturally, we are pleased that following today's court hearing we are able to proceed with the changes we have announced to cabin crew working, which we have been discussing with Unite for the last nine months."
It added: "We will go ahead with these changes on November 16. We urge Unite to withdraw its plans for an industrial action ballot and, following our meeting on October 19, resume discussions with us on other ways of ensuring that British Airways gets in the right shape to ensure long-term survival in the interests of our customers and all our staff."
Unite said BA's 14,000 cabin crew had not accepted wholesale changes being imposed on their contracts from November 16 and stressed that the strike ballot was going ahead. In a statement on Thursday night, the union said: "While today's High Court decision to send Unite's legal challenge to BA to a full trial means there will be a period of some weeks when crew are forced to work under the new rostering regime, the union stresses that this must be in no way seen as an acceptance of that new regime or that crew levels should be slashed. The union alleges that the crew will be forced to work with reduced staffing levels on flights, in some cases up to three crew down, until the full trial can consider Unite's assertion that the company is breaching its members' contracts."
