British Airways pilots are the latest airline workers to consider strike action in a dispute over pay and conditions following the pandemic. Pilots’ union Balpa could ask members to vote on action after pay rises for check-in and baggage staff.
Pilots at the national carrier agreed to sacrifice a portion of their salaries to mitigate job losses in the pandemic in a pay deal agreed in July 2020 with temporary pay cuts of 20 per cent, falling to eight per cent during the following two years - reducing job cuts from 1,255 to 270.
There are now calls for industrial action after strike threats helped secure pay rises for ground handling and check-in staff. A union source told a national newspaper: “They did it by stomping their feet and having a ballot on strike action.