British Airways cabin crew begin strike vote

British Airways cabin crew begin voting today in a strike ballot that could ground the airline in the run-up to Easter. The Unite trade union is polling around 12,000 crew members over staffing cuts, after a vote for a 12-day walkout over Christmas was thrown out by the high court . Officials at BASSA, the Unite cabin crew branch, admitted in an email to members that some might be considering a no vote following the legal decision and the negative publicity surrounding the previous poll. "We are crew, the same as you, and we pick up the vibe that some of you may be considering voting NO this time around." The email added: "If you do vote No, nobody will blame you, but one day you just might blame yourself. Do not be under the illusion that we will all live to fight another day, we won't. Your days as a strong, unionised workforce will be numbered." The ballot closes on 22 February and the earliest possible strike date is 1 March, although Unite has already ruled out an Easter walkout. The general secretary of the TUC, Brendan Barber, is holding separate discussions with BA and Unite officials in a bid to kick-start peace talks that have faltered over the past week. A source close to the discussions said BA's insistence on putting new cabin crew recruits in a new fleet, away length from their colleagues, was a stumbling block. BA, in turn, argues that an airline losing at least £1.6m a day cannot afford to sustain an expensive cabin crew cost base. "The fundamental difference between both sides is that BA wants to bring in a new crew on a new fleet," said the source.