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BA faces ‘unprecedented’ joint pay claim

Three unions are co-ordinating to submit an “unprecedented” joint pay claim to British Airways.

The move comes as they accused the airline of allowing staff to become “disconnected” from its success.

Pilots union Balpa, Unite and the GMB are working together to seek improvements to pay from January.

They are also calling for enhanced profit-sharing arrangements and the introduction of an employee share ownership scheme.

Negotiations with BA are due to start this month.

In a joint statement, Balpa head of industrial relations John Moore, Unite national officer Oliver Richardson and GMB national officer Mick Rix said: “British Airways is continuing to deliver extraordinary financial results.

“In a remarkable transformation, the airline has moved from a £230 million operating loss in 2009 to a £1.8 billion profit in 2017, with an even better result forecast for 2018.

“BA staff made an essential contribution to this success by delivering change and increasing productivity.

“However, British Airways has allowed a culture to develop in which employees are disconnected from the airline’s success, a cause for concern for a world-class, customer service based airline.

“The joint union pay claim is designed to re-establish this connection between financial success and staff reward.”

A BA spokesman said: “We are working with our unions to find a positive approach to our pay talks.

“We have begun a £6.5 billion five-year investment programme in our people and customer products.”

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