BA strike: pilots' union warns on safety and morale

The leader of Britain's largest pilot union has warned that the British Airways cabin crew dispute could endanger safety at the airline and has damaged trade unionism in the UK. Jim McAuslan , general secretary of the British Airline Pilots' Association (Balpa), said the "war" within BA could endanger safety and urged the airline to act so that "safety is not prejudiced". Last year a BA pilot told the Guardian that the dispute between the airline and the Unite trade union had created "unsustainable" working conditions on flights, due to the carrier using a volunteer workforce during strikes that included some pilots. McAuslan added that the aftermath of the cabin crew dispute could resemble the consequences of the miners' strike in the mid-1980s, when communities were divided between strike-breakers and strikers. "After all of this is over there will have to be a process by which everyone works together again. You cannot have what happened after the miners' strike where there are still people in villages not talking to each other." Unite has criticised Balpa for refusing to condemn members who have trained as cabin crew to help BA operate flights during 22 days of cabin crew strikes last year. The Balpa leader said BA's ability to run a significant proportion of its services during the summer phase of the dispute, plus the publicity surrounding the walkouts, had damaged trade unions in the private sector. "Private sector trade unionism is weaker by result of Willie [Walsh, BA chief executive] winning at BA. It is a question for trade unions generally about how they proceed this year." Unite had become a "prisoner" of its main cabin crew branch, Bassa, McAuslan added. He also claimed that conciliation service Acas and the leader of the TUC, Brendan Barber, would agree with BA's argument that Unite and Bassa have a "dysfunctional" relationship. He said: "I think Unite have become prisoners of a local branch that has lost the plot a bit ... If you speak to Acas and Brendan [Barber] they would probably agree that there is dysfunctionality within Unite." Unite argues that it has had no choice but to fight back against what it perceives to be a concerted union-breaking strategy at BA and believes that the dispute, originally over staffing cuts, would have been settled long ago if the airline was not determined to hobble Bassa. BA has consistently denied accusations of union breaking. McAuslan said Balpa supported the "democracy" of the latest Unite vote but indicated that pilots would not back the dispute. Last week nearly 80% of Unite-affiliated crew at BA voted in favour of strike action, although the union is holding off from setting walkout dates after calling for renewed negotiations with the airline. "If we were to ask our members in BA what their view was, there would be an overwhelming vote against supporting the cabin crew," said McAuslan. Admitting that he has received hate mail over criticisms of Balpa's conduct during the dispute, McAuslan said his union had approached Unite in an attempt to heal divisions. Asked if he saw an end in sight, he said: "I don't know how they are going to get out of it. It will be a long war of attrition. I believe the company will successfully operate long-haul flights if there is another strike as well as a good number of short haul services." He added: "We will not be encouraging our members to strike break and we have offered to have local discussions with Unite – if not a truth and reconciliation commission, then a way of working together when this is over." Responding to McAuslan's comments on safety, a BA spokesman said: "All of our crew are extremely professional and are trained to the very highest standards. The safety of our customers and crew is our highest priority and would never be compromised."