BA cabin crew begin voting on strike action

Thousands of British Airways cabin crew started voting today on whether to launch a pre-Christmas strike in protest at “far-reaching” changes to working practices.

New employment contracts came into force today despite opposition from Unite, which warned that they were “unworkable”.

More than 12,000 ballot papers were issued and the result will be announced on December 14, raising the threat of strikes just days before Christmas.

Unite said it was concerned that the changes would increase stress levels among cabin crew because fewer staff would be on duty during flights.

The union said services to passengers would suffer and the health and safety of workers would be hit.