Travel chaos in the UK at the moment as British Airways cabin crew have begin strike action that will cause severe disruption to flights for the next three days.
Talks between the airline and the Unite union, which represents the crew, collapsed on Friday. The cabin crew are striking over pay and working conditions. While the Unite union apparently agree that BA needs to cut costs in order to stay in business, they complain they were not consulted about proposed changes.
A further four days of action are set to begin on March 27th, although BA has said this weekend’s action could disrupt flights into next week as well.
During this first three-day strike, a total of 1,100 BA flights out of the 1,950 scheduled to operate have been cancelled.
There is much criticism of the Government’s failure to avert a strike, particularly over the Easter holiday period, and much political capital is being made out of the fact that the Unite trades union is a major contributor to the Labour Party and has financial involvement with 160 MP’s, including the Prime Minister.
Rail Unions are also contemplating industrial action during the Easter holiday period.