British Airways and union Unite have reached an agreement to resolve the 18-month cabin crew dispute.
The agreement, which will see the restoration of generous travel concessions and a two-year pay deal which will see wages rise by 4% this year and 3.5% in 2012, will be put to a ballot of Unite cabin crew members over the next month.
In the meantime, the union has decided not to call any industrial action at the airline based on its present ballot mandate.
Len McCluskey, general secretary at Unites, said: “We always said that this dispute could only be settled by negotiation, not by confrontation or litigation. And so it has proved.
“We are delighted to have reached an agreement which I believe recognises the rights and dignity of cabin crew as well as the commercial requirements of the organisation.†
“This agreement will allow us to go forward in partnership together – good news for BA, its employees and its customers alike.
“I am particularly pleased that staff travel concessions will be restored in full with the signing of the agreement and the implementation of the new structure for working together that we have negotiated.
“A customer-oriented business can only succeed with all its employees valued and respected.
“And above all I would like to pay tribute to Unite’s BA cabin crew members. Their resilience, discipline and determination to be treated properly has been an inspiration to all who have worked alongside them in this dispute and has been a model of twenty-first century trade unionism.
“They deserve this agreement and the prosperous future at British Airways I hope it secures.”
A statement from the airline said: “British Airways, on behalf of its customers, is very pleased that Unite, the cabin crew trade union, has agreed to recommend a settlement to the dispute and remove the potential threat of industrial action.”
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