The head of Britain’s largest trade union said on Tuesday that he did not expect British Airways cabin crew to take strike action during the week of the royal wedding at the end of April.
Len McCluskey, who is taking over as head of the Unite union, said there were no firm plans to strike during the Easter holidays, but did not rule out further industrial action when a ballot of BA cabin crew closes next week.
“My view is that there’s no likelihood of a strike at the Royal Wedding by British Airways cabin crew,” McCluskey told the BBC’s Today programme.
Asked whether the union would target the Easter holiday in April to maximise the damage caused by strike action McCluskey said: “We wouldn’t pick Easter at all. We’ll wait for the outcome of the ballot. We’re still hoping that British Airways management will see sense and try to reach a settlement...if that’s not the case we’ll have to consider what action we can take.”
British media said cabin crew could stop work for a nine-day period, which includes the Easter weekend and April 29 when Prince William plans to wed his fiancee Kate Middleton. Cabin crew, that are members of Unite, are currently voting on fresh strike action at the airline in a ballot that ends of January 21.
—Reuters