Risk of further BA strikes as more staff consulted

Industrial action at British Airways could spread further across the UK as unions consult with more workers over whether to stage strikes over pay. About 700 mostly check-in staff at Heathrow Airport have already voted to strike over the summer holidays. But the GMB and Unite unions are also consulting engineers and call centre staff at Gatwick, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle on taking action. BA said it was "fully committed to work together to find a solution". On Wednesday, hundreds of BA workers backed strike action over a 10% pay cut introduced during the pandemic. The airline has offered staff a one-off payment, equal to 10% of their salary, but GMB members at Heathrow want the full pay cut reversed. BA said it had made an "offer of a 10% payment which was accepted by the majority of other colleagues". The BBC understands this includes ground operations, engineering and cabin crew workers, who are also represented by Unite and GMB. The wider consultation ballot is separate to the Heathrow issue and about wider concerns over pay. A spokesman for the GMB, said: "Thousands of BA engineers at Heathrow, Gatwick and in Scotland along with call centre staff in Newcastle and Manchester are in the middle of consultative ballot for possible industrial action in a row over pay."<br/>