British Airways cabin crew based in Scotland, Ireland and in Europe have lodged claims against the airline under race discrimination laws. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA
British Airways has been accused of racial discrimination by cabin crew, opening a new front in an industrial dispute that reaches a critical point this week as the result of a peace deal ballot is announced.
A group of BA flight attendants is claiming that the removal of discounted travel from strikers discriminates indirectly against employees based in Scotland, Ireland and mainland Europe who use the scheme to commute to and from Heathrow airport. The group, called Crew Defence, is representing 75 employees who are lodging cases with an employment tribunal in Reading and plan to sue for compensation if their claim is upheld.
The move comes as the Unite trade union prepares to announce the result of a consultative ballot on a BA peace deal on Tuesday. If cabin crew fail to back the proposal, the union is expected to poll 11,000 cabin crew over further strike action in the long-running dispute.
A Crew Defence source, which claims the group has the backing of 1,500 cabin crew, said BA’s flight attendants were engaged in a “David versus Goliath” confrontation: “The fact that we have gone from zero to 1,500 in weeks shows how serious we are about this.”
The source added: “The impact of the staff travel ban on crew has not been made public and it is substantial. Crew members have had to sell houses and live in digs in the UK. Despite the figures reported in the press, these people are not earning massive sums of money.”
Crew Defence is bringing the cases under the 1976 Race Relations Act and has hired Russell Jones & Walker, a law firm with a strong record in race discrimination cases. The group argues that staff were actively recruited by BA in mainland Europe because the airline wanted multilingual employees on its long-haul services from Heathrow, but those who have had their staff travel removed after going on strike must now pay large sums to commute to and from the UK. Under the discounted fares scheme, BA employees receive a 90% discount on the maximum fare for a flight