Daily View: BA court decision

Clare Spencer | 09:23 UK time, Friday, 18 December 2009

British Airways Commentators discuss the High Court ruling that a 12-day Christmas strike by BA cabin crews would be illegal.

Seumas Milne in the Guardian does not support the decision:

"In this case, there's not the slightest question that those mistakenly balloted half-way through taking redundancy could have changed the result. Instead, Mrs Justice Cox has made a transparently political decision to skew the balance of power still further in favour of BA's recklessly incompetent management."

The Times says the union Unite has been left to look like something between a menace and a joke:

"It is not just the unions' incompetence that is so breath-taking. It is their arrogance. They seem unable to look beyond themselves."

Jeff Randall in the Telegraph says the attempted strike reflects crumbling social cohesion:

"Engulfed by their own propaganda, wallowing in grievance and entitlement, BA's eager strikers are not fighting for a noble cause. They are masquerading as victims in order to pursue self-interest, while dressing it up as virtue."

The Daily Mail urges union leaders and management to work teogether:

"Let's hope that the airline's management and wiser heads in the union take advantage of this breathing space to find a way forward."

Simon Calder in the Independent says even before the strike was prevented by an injunction, the union's decision to strike over Christmas played straight into the airline's hands:

"Future students of industrial relations will be amazed that a big trade union could have misjudged the public mood so badly."

Finally, in his BBC blog Robert Peston reminds us that the court victory for BA doesn't resolve the problem:

"BA still needs to resolve its dispute with cabin crew over staffing levels and pay. The airline cannot really escape the painful truth that many of its people feel spurned and alienated."

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