A 13.1% wage increase for over 24,000 frontline British Airways employees, including cabin crew and ground staff at the airline’s Heathrow hub, has been reached after months of tough discussions, according to the Unite union.
The 18-month salary agreement is being hailed as a victory for both workers and passengers, who will be glad to hear that the threat of a strike has been removed.
British Airways’ pandemic-era “fire and rehire” policy, which threatened long-tenured and well-paid employees with redundancy if they didn’t accept drastic pay cuts of up to 30%, was eventually overturned by union negotiators.
British Airways has agreed to reinstate the pay of veteran workers who had it reduced such that it is at least equal to what it was 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.
Additionally to the overall salary increase, BA employees will also get a one-time payment of £1,000 to mitigate the effects of the cost of living challenge. In the event that inflation increases more than the agreed-upon pay increase, compensation will also increase in step with inflation.
