Plan To Fly Out Of London, Workers Mull Strike

British Airways plans to shift most of its operations from London to countries including India where labour is cheaper. According to general manager (South Asia) Kevin Steele, BA plans to recruit nearly 500 personnel in India for its operations. The move is designed to globalise operations, apart from cutting costs.

However, BA workers union does not seem to have taken kindly to such cost-cutting measures. Two separate strike ballots are taking place currently among both cabin crew and ground service employees in the airlines core operations at Heathrow and Gatwick, which will decide whether a strike should be resorted to.

 

International Transport Workers Federation has warned that the airline could be hit next month by the worst strike in its history. These ballots are taking place in an atmosphere in which the company seems to have lost all respect for reasonable industrial relations , the federation said.