The Unite union is set to ballot 14,000 cabin crew over changes to their working conditions as the ongoing cost cutting and refocusing of British Airways continues. This is not the first time that British Airways staff have considered going out on strike and indeed for the last 12 months we have seen an ongoing battle between the management, workers and unions.

In what many believe is one of the most difficult aviation sectors for some time, all airlines around the world, both large and small, have struggled to accommodate a changing business arena and ever rising costs. Despite the fact that British Airways has instigated a number of significant cost-cutting exercises over the last 12 months there is still much to be done and the company still has a relatively large debt pile to contend with.

This further brush with the unions, coming so soon after the first of many planned Royal Mail strikes, could be a killer blow to the UK economy which has been trying to pull away from recession. There is no doubt that businesses will lose income, cash flow will be squeezed and consumers will lose faith with the UK business arena. The power of the unions has never been more visible than today and many believe we are taking a step back to the days when the unions could literally bring the UK to a standstill.

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