Around 24,000 frontline British Airways employees, including cabin crew and ground staff at the airline’s Heathrow hub, have secured a 13.1% pay rise in what the Unite union described as a ‘significant’ win which was hammered out during months of intense negotiations.
The deal is being hailed as a win for both employees and passengers, who will be relieved to learn that the threat of strike action has now been lifted over the course of the 18-month pay deal.
Union negotiators managed to convince British Airways to reverse its pandemic-era ‘fire and rehire’ policy which saw long-serving and well-paid employees threatened with redundancy if they didn’t accept massive cut cuts of up to 30%.
British Airways has agreed to restore the wages of veteran employees who had their pay slashed so that they earn at least as much as what they were earning in 2019.
“This is a sizable pay increase which has been achieved by the hard work and dedication of the union’s reps and officers,” commented Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham.
“The fact that Unite has reversed the fire and rehire cuts while also securing a large increase in pay, underlines how the union’s relentless focus on the jobs, pay and conditions of members, is delivering for workers financially,” Graham continued.
In addition to the overall pay rise, BA workers will also get a one-off £1,000 payment to soften the impact of the cost of living crisis. Should inflation rise above the negotiated pay rise, then pay will also rise in line with inflation.
