London : Union leaders yesterday called for talks with British Airways' (BA) bosses to end the strike by its cabin crew that has led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights and disrupted travel plans for thousands of passengers.
The three-day action, which began on Saturday, has also proved a source of embarrassment for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown as it involves the Unite union, the ruling Labour party's biggest single financial backer.
Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite, said in a letter to his members he hoped new talks with BA management could prevent a second four-day strike over pay and jobs planned for later this month.
"Today, I will be appealing to British Airways at board level to take matters in hand and restart negotiations to reach an agreement which would allow the strike scheduled for next weekend to be averted and put your airline on the road to recovery," he said.
"We have said all along that negotiations, not litigation, intimidation nor confrontation is the way forward."
Disputed
Unite and BA have disputed the impact of the strike, with the union saying it had received the support of 80 per cent of its members while the airline's chief executive Willie Walsh said its plans were going better than expected.
BA said because of the number of crew reporting for work, it had been able to add extra flights.
It also said fears that unions in other countries which had voiced support for Unite would disrupt its services abroad had proved unfounded.
The dispute has grown increasingly bitter with Unite accusing BA's management of bullying and issuing misleading figures about the number of staff who had broken the strike.
