British Airways strike still on but peace talks continuing

A three-day strike by British Airways cabin crew is still planned for this weekend but last-ditch peace talks are continuing between the airline and union. BA's chief executive, Willie Walsh, met the joint general secretary of the Unite trade union, Tony Woodley, this morning but they failed to reach an agreement. It is understood that Walsh submitted a new offer but Woodley raised strong objections. However, Woodley has returned to the TUC for more talks after discussions with representatives of Unite's cabin crew branches, Bassa and Cabin Crew 89. Walsh and Woodley have been holding discussions at the headquarters of the TUC in central London. If there is no breakthrough this afternoon it is likely that the first walkout by BA cabin crew in 13 years will begin on Saturday. 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 strikes if BA put a previous formal offer to the union back on the table. BA had withdrawn the offer last Friday after Unite set strike dates for the three-day walkout starting on Saturday, and a further four days of industrial action starting on 27 March. Representatives of Bassa had warned that members were unlikely to accept the offer anyway. It included a three-year pay deal and the partial repeal of staffing cuts that triggered the dispute. Walsh had indicated that BA was unlikely to put the same offer back on the table and would present a tougher one instead. That appears to have happened this morning, with Walsh claiming the dispute has already cost BA nearly £30m that now needs to be reclaimed through any future agreement.