British Airways workers have rejected their bosses latest offer which, although it included minor concessions on pay, included no significant promises from management on either the original issues of the dispute or the attacks workers have suffered during the course of the campaign. While the deal did promise no victimisation of workers currently involved in disciplinary cases, it only offered a partial reinstatement of the staff travel allowance rescinded during the strike which many workers came to see as the key frontline attack. Many commentators in the bourgeois press have stated that the result comes as surprise, with most believing that BA workers had no stomach for a continued fight.
However ,the turnout was significantly lower than previous ballots during the dispute, perhaps reflecting generally low levels of morale amongst a battered and beleaguered workforce. The failure of the workers' union, Unite, to offer any real industrial leadership can't have helped either; they did not offer a recommendation on the offer, and their public statements continue to be filled with the language of reconciliation and accommodation despite the obvious intransigence and belligerence of BA bosses.
For their part, management have spun the low turnout to imply that the high number of workers who either voted for the deal or didn't vote at all represents an effective majority in support of accepting the offer. This is, of course, nonsense – if most workers didn't vote all, that hardly represents a ringing endorsement of Willie Walsh's miserly offer.
The rejection of the deal opens the door to further strikes, which may take place in September pending a ballot (which Unite is yet to call). However, with confidence levels low and with workers still reeling from the almost-unprecedented assaults meted out to them by Walsh during the strike, it is unclear how much stamina remains. Unite could certainly do more to enthuse, galvanise and embolden its members; rather than letting Walsh set the tone, it should go on the offensive against his project for British Airways. They must also begin to find ways of mobilising other sections of aviation workers rather than allowing sectional chauvinisms to go unchallenged; if the cabin crew are defeated, it is almost certain that Walsh will go after some other section of BA workers next.
Most estimates suggest that the dispute has cost British Airways over £150m so far. Some BA shareholders must be wondering whether Walsh's ideological dedication to smashing the cabin crew union will end up costing the company more than it's worth.
The union's leadership have repeatedly stated that they are seeking “industrial peace”. Any such “peace” will be temporary and ultimately illusory; workers must match Walsh's belligerence with war tactics of their own.
