BA strike talks enter final day

Attempts to prevent a weekend strike by British Airways cabin crew are set to enter their final day after senior figures at BA and the Unite trade union continued to wrangle over a compromise deal last night. The BA chief executive, Willie Walsh, and the joint general secretary of Unite, Tony Woodley, were attempting to draw up a document that would allow the union to suspend a three-day walkout due to begin tomorrow. It is understood that the face-to-face talks at the TUC headquarters in London started badly yesterday morning when Walsh submitted a new offer that was flatly rejected by Woodley. Walsh, angered by the damage that the dispute has wrought on the airline, claimed that the threat of strike action had cost the national carrier £27m and led to the loss of 103,000 passengers. However, some of their differences over the latest BA offer appear to have been surmounted by yesterday evening, leaving just a few outstanding issues to be settled. Nonetheless, sources close to the discussions warned that the talks were "hanging by a thread" with the first BA cabin crew strike in 13 years no more than 24 hours away. BA has pledged to fly 65% of its passengers to their destinations by using a fleet of chartered jets and 1,000 volunteer cabin crew. Earlier this week, Woodley said Unite would suspend the strike if BA put a previous formal offer to the union back on the table. BA had withdrawn that offer last Friday after Unite set strike dates for the three-day walkout starting tomorrow, and a further four days of industrial action starting on 27 March. Problems remain for Walsh and Woodley even if they do hammer out an agreement that allows for a temporary suspension of industrial action. Representatives of Bassa and Cabin Crew 89, Unite's cabin crew arms, have warned that they might not recommend the compromise. The earlier BA offer included a three-year pay deal and the partial repeal of the staffing cuts that triggered the dispute. Meanwhile, train passengers will learn today whether the first national rail strike in 16 years is likely this Easter when the RMT union announces the result of a signallers' ballot. Maintenance workers at Network Rail, have already voted in favour of a strike.