BA crew dispute all over bar voting

British Airways cabin crew today agreed to call off their bitter dispute with the airline and put a new deal to a ballot of union members.

The decision, taken at a mass meeting of Unite members near Heathrow Airport, effectively means the end of the long-running row which broke out in October 2009.

A proposal to restore travel concessions and resolve other differences will now be put to a ballot of Unite members which will start next week with the result expected by the end of June.

The mass meeting was told that a proposed settlement had been reached to the long-running row which led to 22 days of strikes last year, costing the airline more than £150m (€172m).

Under the deal, Unite said that travel concessions would be returned to all cabin crew who took industrial action.

The concessions will be reinstated immediately the ballot result is known.

A row over disciplinary action taken against dozens of Unite members would be resolved by referring their cases to a third party.

Also under the deal, cabin crew would receive a two-year pay rise worth almost 6%.

Unite leader Len McCluskey said: “We are recommending this deal because we believe it is an honourable settlement.

“There is a change within the management psyche at British Airways driven by the chief executive.

“If we embrace this we are confident that the future will look good.”