Union 'taxes' own branches to build £700k war chest in battle with BA

Unite officials said the move showed their resolve in continuing the dispute with the airline over cost cutting and job losses.

The union's executive yesterday agreed a 2 per cent levy on branches – rather than members, it insisted – for the next three months to support the strikers, in addition to the money it is paying to crew in strike pay.

Joint leader Tony Woodley said: "This is an unprecedented move and it shows that Unite is absolutely determined to give our members all the support they deserve in winning this battle against the BA bullies.

"We continue to search for a decent settlement in this dispute but cabin crew are not going to be driven back to work for lack of resources."

A second, four-day stoppage is due to end tonight, which has forced the cancellation of nearly two-thirds of Scotland-to-Heathrow flights yesterday and today. However, disruption for Scottish passengers will continue right up to the Easter weekend.

Nearly one-third of services on the Edinburgh-, Glasgow- and Aberdeen-to-Heathrow routes will be grounded tomorrow and Thursday as a knock-on effect.

BA flights at Gatwick and London City airports – including to Edinburgh and Glasgow – are operating normally.

BA has said the strikes, which have also included a three-day walkout the previous weekend, had cost it around 50 million.

However, Unite said BA's losses from the disruption to flights and cost of hiring planes from other airlines was nearer 100 million.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh visited Gatwick yesterday to pay tribute to cabin crew who have worked during the strikes, and said the airline's contingency plans had worked "really well."

He said BA had flown some 120,000 passengers over the weekend, a "significant" increase on the number during the previous strike.

Union officials said 168 cabin crew reported for duty yesterday, 33 were off sick and 196 on strike.

They claimed only 42 per cent of BA flights were leaving Heathrow, most of them involving aircraft leased from other companies.

However, a spokesman for the airline said: "At Heathrow, our flying programme is significantly more extensive than during the first strike period. We are operating 70 per cent of our normal long-haul programme, compared with 60 per cent last weekend, and up to 55 per cent of our short-haul programme, compared with 30 per cent.

"Due to the higher numbers of crew reporting for work than during the first strike period, we have been able to operate our expanded schedule at Heathrow with less than half the number of chartered aircraft used in the first strike period."

Conservative Party chairman Eric Pickles said the union levy was a "cash raid" on its members. He said: "These barons don't want to touch the millions they give to Gordon Brown each year to bankroll the Labour Party, so they'll pick on their own rank and file instead."

A BA spokesman said: "It is a shame Unite is not consulting its members at BA before imposing this levy. Many thousands of Unite members, including large numbers of cabin crew, do not support this strike."

Unite accused the airline of paying pilots an "extraordinary" 166 an hour to cover for strikers – making them the "world's most expensive" cabin crew. It said BA had diverted hundreds of pilots to work as crew, with the guarantee they would still be paid salaries of up to 120,000 – eight times as much as cabin crew.

A BA spokesman said the claims were not true. He said: "Pilots are not being given any extra money to fly as temporary cabin crew."

HOW MUCH?

THE union claims BA are paying pilots 166 an hour, writes Oliver Murray. That would equal 345,000 a year. By comparison, other pay scales are:

Willie Walsh, BA boss - 743,000

Prime Minister Gordon Brown - 185,771

Lord Adonis, Transport Secretary - 135,337

Tony Woodley, Unite boss - 105,761

MP - 64,766

BA cabin crew - 29,900

Teacher - 27,688

Nurse - 17,000