Strike could put BA future at risk, warns British Transport Secretary
A threatened strike by British Airways cabin crew could put the future of the airline at risk, British Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis warned today.
He appealed to the Unite union to return to the negotiating table in an attempt to avert the industrial action planned to begin on Saturday.
Adonis said: "The impact this will have will not only be deeply damaging on passengers, it will ... threaten the very existence of British Airways."
The union has said thousands of its members will walk out for three days from March 20 and for four days from March 27 after the collapse of talks aimed at resolving a long-running dispute over jobs, pay and working conditions.
Adonis told BBC1's 'Andrew Marr Show': "The stakes are incredibly high in this strike.
"I absolutely deplore the strike, it is not only the damage it is going to do passengers and the inconvenience it's going to cause - which is quite disproportionate to the issues at stake - but also the threat it poses to the future of one of our great companies in this country."
Adonis continued: "It's totally unjustified, the strike, on the merits of the issues at stake.
"I do call on the union to engage constructively with the company at this late stage."
He added: "This is an industrial dispute and it needs to be sorted out by proper negotiations.
"We have still got a short window of time before British Airways has to announce what is going to happen to all the flights that would have to be cancelled from next Saturday if the strike goes ahead.
"In this short window I implore the union to get together with the management to see whether, at this late stage, a solution can be found."
He said the union and company bosses were close to a deal last week and he believed the strike could still be avoided.
Adonis urged the union "not to take action which not only would be deeply damaging to the economy and to the public but which could threaten the very jobs of their members which they are seeking to protect".
