How hard-left union bosses plan to spoil your Christmas with days and days of crippling strike action
Walkouts on the railways, at airports and the post service threaten to ruin the festivities this year
HARD-LEFT union bosses are threatening to ruin Christmas with a host of strikes and days and days of crippling industrial action.
Walkouts on the railways, at airports and by postal workers will cause chaos and disruption during the festive season.
Passengers already faced a nightmare week after drivers on Southern rail went on strike in a row over staffing on their busy commuter services.
But there is more pain on the way as the RMT union is instructing conductors to walk out from New Year’e Eve to Christmas Day. And the drivers’ union Aslef is organising six days of strikes in early January.
Its leader, left-wing firebrand Tosh McDonald, has been branded a class war agitator not fit to hold public office after sparking fury by blaming Tories and the police over the attempted murder of two children.
Meanwhile anyone hoping to fly over Christmas will be hit with travel misery as 1,500 workers at 18 major airports plan to walk out.
The action will involve baggage handlers, check-in staff and cargo crew and is over a long-running dispute about pay.
To add to the misery, 2,500 British Airways cabin crew members are planning to walk out on Christmas Day and Boxing Day unless bosses offer up a pay alternative.
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The move threatens to trigger holiday chaos as the fleet work on 60 short and long-haul flights – such as services to Paris and Dubai.
The cabin crew threat at BA comes five years after a bitter industrial dispute at the airline as it tried to cut 1,700 jobs and freeze pay. The dispute cost the airline £150 million.
Talks aimed at heading-off the strikes by baggage handlers will be held at Acas on Tuesday, but the BA walk-out looks set to go ahead.
Meanwhile, pilots at Virgin Atlantic voted for industrial action in a dispute over union recognition. Members of the PPU union will "work to contract " from December 23.
Their union, the PPU, said 88 per cent of its members voted in favour on a turnout of 80 per cent.
The action will see a removal of “pilot goodwill”, with pilots who are members of the PPU working strictly to their contract.
In a statement, the union said: “It is possible that this may leave some flights not covered for the duration of any action, which has the potential to continue indefinitely.”
And from tomorrow thousands of postal staff will walk out for five days in a dispute over jobs, pensions and branch closures.
Shop counter staff at large high street Crown Post Offices will walk out on December 19, 20 and Christmas Eve, while cash handlers are preparing to strike on December 22 and 23.
Post Office chiefs have tried to play down the action, saying “at least” 97% of branches would remain unaffected, but union bosses have already warned the strike will disrupt deliveries in the run-up to Christmas.
However they say the action is necessary to save people’s jobs as more than 6,000 Post Offices have closed since 2002.
Christmas of Discontent: All the planned strike action
There are walkouts on the rails, at airports and the postal service - here are the details:
RAILWAYS:
Southern Rail - conductor srtrike by RMT on December 31-January 2, and driver strike by Aslef and RMT from january 9-14
AIRPORTS:
British Airways - cabin crew and other staff who fly from Heathrow to walk out on Christmas Day and Boxing Day
Swissport - 1,500 Unite staff at 18 airports covering check-in, baggae handling and cargo crew December 23-25
Virgin Atlantic - Pilots will 'work to rule' in row over their union recognition starting from December 23
POST OFFICE:
Crown Post Offices - postal workers will strike from December 19-24 after row between CWU and bosses
A leading Labour MP has warned union chiefs need a "wake-up call" over the impact a planned wave of Christmas strikes will have on people.
Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the influential Commons financial watchdog the Public Accounts Committee, said they were in danger of shooting themselves in the foot.
"I think it's absolutely right people should have the right to strike, but I think it is a very unfortunate combination for people travelling, workers, at a particularly difficult time of year.
"And I think that all trade unions, even though they are fighting for their rights, need to really think about the impact on the people they are actually there to serve, their customers, or their passengers.
"And I think that there needs to be a bit of a wake-up call about the impact on hard working people who are trying to get to work, or go on holiday."
It comes as the general secretary of the RMT has dismissed claims the union is "part of some conspiracy to bring the Government down".
Mick Cash has insisted train workers are staging a series of strikes this Christmas because they are worried about the safety of passengers.
He was forced to defend his union after its president, Sean Hoyle, reportedly said unions are coordinating strike action to bring down the Tory Government.
The reported that Mr Hoyle declared that “rule No 1” was to “strive to replace the capitalist system with a socialist order”, telling a meeting of hard-left activists last month, “if we all spit together we can drown the bastards”.
Appearing on BBC Radio 5 Live's Pienaar's Politics, Mr Cash said the strikes on Southern rail network are not a political stunt but over concerns about passengers being caught in doors, dragged along platforms and getting injured.
He said: "I see the media reports today, and as far as I'm concerned I'm not interested in what's said at fringe political meetings.
"We are a serious industrial trade union, we are not part of some conspiracy to bring the Government down.
“We are focusing on the concerns that our members have had around safety on the railways.";