To Strike, to Serve? Industrial Action at British Airways. British Airways plc v Unite the Union (Nos 1 and 2)
2011; Oxford University Press; Volume: 40; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/indlaw/dwq031
ISSN1464-3669
Autores Tópico(s)International Law and Aviation
ResumoAt the time of writing, the industrial dispute between cabin crew and management at British Airways has been ongoing for nearly two years. This note will briefly set out the contentious issues, before focussing on one of two sets of legal proceedings that have arisen so far: the repeated attempts by British Airways to obtain injunctions against impeding strike action.1 These decisions illustrate the 'legal minefield which unions enter when embarking upon industrial action'2 and highlight the role of formality provisions in Part V of TULRCA 1992 in foiling trade union activities. Drafted in a complex and rigid manner, the effect of these formality requirements goes directly against the Act's proclaimed goal of securing democracy within trade unions. The issue is by no means rare or isolated—in between the two injunctions under analysis another employer in the transportation sector, Network Rail, applied for and was granted an injunction under very similar conditions.3
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