LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - British Airways faces strike
action over its plans to cut jobs, pay and conditions, the BBC
reported on Tuesday, piling more pressure on the airline which
has been hard hit by the coronavirus crisis and faced more
disruption this week from new UK quarantine rules on Spain.
Trade union Unite, which represents BA cabin crew, said that
the airline is planning to fire and rehire thousands of its
workers and that it planned to defend its members by immediately
moving towards industrial action, the BBC reported.
British Airways, which is owned by IAG and Unite
did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
BA said in April that it would need to cut up to 12,000 jobs
to survive the coronavirus pandemic, which wiped out air travel
for months and from which the aviation market will take years to
recover.
Unite has accused BA of seeking to fire and rehire some
workers on less favourable contracts. For many weeks the Union
refused to engage in consultations with BA.
BA, like all airlines, is struggling to recover from the
pandemic due to consumer worries over the virus and new
restrictions are making the recovery even tougher.
A 14-day quarantine for travellers returning to Britain from
Spain, a significant market for BA, came into force two days
ago.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Susan Fenton)