High Court approves British Airways injunction against cabin crew strike

British Airways won (17-Dec-2009) a London High Court injunction against its cabin crew staging a 12-day strike from 22-Dec-2009, due to "illegal irregularities", as a number of the voting staff had already accepted the carrier's voluntary redundancy plans (Bloomberg, 17-Dec-2009/AAP, 18-Dec-2009). The ruling means Unite must give at least one week's notice in the future, should staff vote in favour of another strike. [more]

London High Court: "A strike of this kind over the 12 days of Christmas is fundamentally more damaging to BA and the wider public than a strike taking place at almost any other time of the year," Judge Laura Cox. Source: Reuters, 17-Dec-2009.

Unite responded (17-Dec-2009) to the decision stating it was disappointed in the court's decision and plans to hold another ballot after the Christmas period (AAP, 18-Dec-2009). [more]

Unite: "We will of course be studying the judgement, but the fact remains that this dispute is not settled. Passing the buck to the courts to do management's job for them was never going to be the answer. BA must accept that there can be no resolution except through negotiation, failing which there will inevitably be a further ballot for industrial action. Given the clear mood of cabin crew about management's imposition of changes on their working lives, this means that the spectre of further disruption to the company's operations cannot be removed. Only a negotiated agreement can do that," Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, Joint General Secretaries. Source: Unite, 17-Dec-2009.