London - British
Airways and cabin crew representatives are set to hold talks on Monday
aimed at stopping strikes that would hit thousands of passengers flying in and
out of the UK over Christmas, as Prime Minister Theresa May’s government
clashes with unions over a wave of industrial action.
The Unite
trade union and BA agreed to meet in London in an attempt to resolve a row over
pay and work conditions before as many as 4 500 workers based at the city’s
Heathrow Airport walk out on December 25 and 26, the conciliation service Acas said
in an e-mailed statement.
It is one
of a number of industrial disputes that have hit the UK this holiday season,
with strikes scheduled for the railway network, mail service and airport
baggage handling.
Politicians
have urged unions to reconsider what’s being called the “Christmas of
discontent” strike action, while members of May’s cabinet have reacted with
dismay to reports that the unions’ real target is not employers in private
transport firms but the Tory government. Ministers said they sensed that the
strikes were motivated by politics, as unions are major funders of the main
Opposition Labour Party.
“Labour’s
refusal to condemn their union paymasters shows how out of touch they are with
ordinary working people,” said Patrick McLoughlin, the chairman of May’s
Conservative Party and a member of her cabinet, in a post on Twitter on Sunday.
Read also: Comair strike grounded
A report in
The Sunday Times newspaper claimed that the president of the RMT rail union
vowed to use strikes on southern England trains to topple the Conservative
government, a claim which the union has denied. David Gauke, chief secretary to
the Treasury, said the allegation was “more evidence” that unions were
“motivated by political objectives not passenger safety.”
Mick Cash,
the RMT union’s general secretary, said his members would rather be at work but
had genuine concerns about safety. “We are a serious industrial trade union,
and we are not part of some conspiracy to bring the government down. We are
focusing on the concerns our members have over safety on the railways,” Cash
told Pienaar’s Politics on BBC Radio 5 live.