British Airways has emerged victorious in the latest scuffle between management and union leaders, with a ballot for strike action being dumped after it was found to be legally unsound.
Unite has revealed that a ballot, carried out in January and showing support for fresh walk outs, has had to be abandoned after the Electoral Reform Society questioned its validity, based on a concern about the number of ballot papers issued.
But Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said that in the next week to ten days it would inform BA of a new ballot. He added that he had seen “no flicker of interest” from BA management about setting up new talks, a claim the airline has dismissed as “rubbish”.
BA hit back saying Unite had known about the fact that the ballot could not progress to strike action for some time yet did nothing.
A BA spokesman said: "Unite knew more than three weeks ago that this ballot lacked legal validity. It chose to hide this fact from its members, opting instead for rhetoric about industrial action it knew could not happen. We make no apology for having advised Unite of the flaws in its conduct. The union has nobody to blame but itself."
But McCluskey said: “If BA management believes that it can secure industrial harmony by these methods it is living in a fools’ paradise. Only negotiation, not litigation or intimidation, can place industrial relations on a sound footing and start to heal the wounds caused by this dispute."
by Dinah Hatch
