BA strikers lose travel perks

A fresh row has flared at British Airways after the airline told cabin crew who went on strike for three days that they will lose their travel perks.

Staff receive discounts on travel and free flights, depending on length of service, and were warned by BA's chief executive Willie Walsh that the perks would be withdrawn if they joined the strike.

Members of Unite who took industrial action for three days from last weekend have now received letters telling them they are losing the perks.

A BA spokesman said: "Our cabin crew knew that if they took part in the strike they would lose their staff travel permanently. Staff travel offers heavily discounted travel to employees. This is a non-contractual perk that the company can withdraw at its discretion.

"The industrial action impacted on our operation and our customers and we will undoubtedly suffer additional costs and further losses as a result."

A Unite spokesman said: "This is the clearest possible example of BA's bullying and contemptuous approach to its employees. Cabin crew showed last weekend that they will not be intimidated. Unite will challenge this vindictive move in whatever way seems appropriate."

Unite's joint leader Tony Woodley told a rally of striking cabin crew workers on Monday that he believed the discounted travel arrangements were now "custom and practice", not a perk.

BA said the three-day strike cost it £21 million and is braced for a four-day strike from Saturday in a bitter row over cost-cutting and jobs.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court sent a battle over the holiday pay of British Airways pilots to the European Court of Justice. Five justices who sit at the highest court in the UK decided that the issue raised questions over the definition of paid annual leave under European law.

The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) took BA to the Supreme Court in the latest stage of its long-running campaign to secure holiday pay for pilots based on what they earn rather than on just their basic pay without allowances. The union argues that at present a BA pilot on holiday will take home less pay than if he or she was working - something it says is unheard of in other businesses and industries.