Strike averted after BA reaches deal with unions

BRITISH Airways has managed to avert August Bank Holiday industrial action after striking a deal with its unions.

The carrier has agreed to an 8.5% pay rise over the next three years, backdated to October last year, with an additional lump sum of £1,000 paid to staff in installments up to September 2006.

In return, the GMB, T&G and Amicus unions have agreed to support BA's plans to halve its absenteeism bill, currently standing at around £60 million a year.

The policy targets a reduction in current absence from an average of 17 days per employee down to 10 days within 12 months.

BA director of customer service and operations Mike Street said: "The new agreed policy on absence is tough on those persistently absent while remaining compassionate towards the genuinely sick.

"We can afford this three-year deal because of the new absence policy, which we estimate will save BA £30 million a year.”