BA strike possible due to PM's weakness, says Cameron
BA strike possible due to PM's weakness, says Cameron
Monday 29th March 2010
Conservative party leader David Cameron has suggested the latest British Airways strike was made possible by an inconsistent approach to the industrial action by the prime minister.Cabin crew entered their second day of striking on Sunday, with some 131 departures cancelled from London Heathrow as well as three flights departing from Manchester and five from Glasgow.
Speaking on Sunday's Politics Show, Mr Cameron said Labour leader Gordon Brown had played into the Unite trade union's hands by failing to back non-strikers over the dispute regarding BA's budgetary reductions.
""We have seen from the prime minister a certain weakness," Mr Cameron remarked.
"I think a leader should say 'of course, if people want to go to work, they should go to work and I back them going to work'.
"I think the unions have scented weakness in the government and that's one of the reasons why we're seeing quite so many strikes."
Mr Brown responded by saying: "We want BA workers to be back at work, so we've said we don't want this strike. But we also want to make it possible for arbitration and negotiation to take place."
A four-day strike by British Airways cabin crew began on Saturday, with 90 flights cancelled at Heathrow and problems also noted at New York City's JFK airport, though Gatwick and London City airports have not experienced any disruptions to normal operations.
Unite has suggested that there could be further strike action after Easter if the union fails to reach an agreement with BA over pay and conditions following the airline's plans to reduce the number of cabin crew on some long-haul flights.
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