Virgin cabin crew ditch strikes

Virgin is one of the main airlines covering the trans-Atlantic route

Virgin Atlantic cabin crew have called off planned strikes after a deal was agreed with management on pay.

Staff had planned two 48-hour walkouts, one from Wednesday and a second from 16 January, after initially rejecting a similar wage deal.

Sir Richard Branson said the two-year deal - a 4.8% pay increase, followed by a rise in line with inflation - was a "triumph of common sense".

He had previously told staff who had threatened to strike to work elsewhere.

There is also a commitment to review pay again in April 2009.

"This agreement recognises the important contribution cabin crew make to the business," said Brian Boyd, national officer at Unite, which represented the cabin crew.

"I am of the firm opinion that we now have the opportunity to ensure an improved relationship with Virgin Atlantic in the future."

The outcome is a triumph of common sense and means that our passengers need not worry about getting to their destinations Sir Richard Branson

Management and union representatives said prolonged negotiations had damaged the relationship between the airlines, cabin crew and the union.

"We are pleased that both sides have managed to avert strike action that was planned for this week and next," Sir Richard said.

"The outcome is a triumph of common sense and means that our passengers need not worry about getting to their destinations."

Sir Richard has admitted that rival airlines have often offered better basic wages, but said that they did not offer the perks that came with working for a "smaller, more friendly" company.

"For some of you, more pay than Virgin Atlantic can afford may be critical to your lifestyle and if that is the case you should consider working elsewhere," he said.

'Entitled to strike'

However one cabin crew steward claimed his union had "stuck two fingers up" to the members, because it had set aside the result of a strike ballot held last month.

Nathan Prescott, from Manchester, said it was embarrassing that the union had now accepted the two-year pay deal which had been previously been rejected by members in the strike ballot.

"I would have thought that because we'd been balloted to take industrial action, and there had been no change to the original deal, we were quite entitled to go on strike," he said.

He claimed a number of other cabin crew were also angry with Unite, and were considering a vote of no confidence in the union.

Meanwhile, industrial action scheduled by workers at airport operator BAA has also been called off.

Union members had called for strikes on 7, 14, 17 and 18 January, but these were called off last week after BAA eased plans to alter worker pension rights.