Brown slams 'deplorable' BA strike (From Chorley Citizen)

Brown slams 'deplorable' BA strike

10:42am Monday 15th March 2010 in

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The planned strike by British Airways cabin crew is "unjustified" and "deplorable" and should be called off, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said.

On Sunday Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said the planned seven days of industrial action could put the future of the airline at risk, calling the walk-outs "totally unjustified".

The dispute has embroiled the Government in an extraordinary row with the country's biggest union Unite, one of Labour's biggest donors.

Asked in an interview with BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour whether Lord Adonis was right, Mr Brown said: "I agree. It is the wrong time, it is unjustified, it is deplorable, we shouldn't have a strike. It is not in the company's interest, it is not in the workers' interest and it is certainly not in the national interest. I hope that this strike will be called off."

Mr Brown said he hoped that there would be developments which would allow the BA management and unions to return to talks. "We have got to find a way in which the two sides can get together - the BA management and the BA workforce," the Prime Minister told Woman's Hour.

On Sunday Lord Adonis appealed to Unite to return to the negotiating table in an attempt to avert the industrial action planned to begin with a three-day strike from next Saturday, followed by a four-day stoppage from the following weekend.

Lord Adonis told BBC One's Andrew Marr show: "The impact this will have will not only be deeply damaging on passengers, it will ... threaten the very existence of British Airways. 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."

Unite accused the Transport Secretary of being "badly informed" about the long-running dispute, adding that he should be urging the airline to reinstate an offer it withdrew last week.

Privately, union officials were said to be "livid" with Lord Adonis, one saying he had "blundered" into the dispute without knowing all the facts. It is understood that the union made representations to 10 Downing Street about the minister's intervention.

BA is expected to give details of how flights will be affected if the strikes go ahead to give "more certainty" to its customers.