Unite raising £700,000 war chest for BA strike

Britain's largest union, Unite, is digging in for a battle of attrition with British Airways after announcing that it is raising a £700,000 war chest for the cabin crew strikers. Unite is raising the fund through an "unprecedented" 2% levy on its 3,000 branches.

The news came as BA confirmed that some cabin crew were being docked nearly a fortnight's wages for taking part in the walkout, raising fears among Unite officials that union members will be "starved" into crossing picket lines if, as expected, the dispute drags on past Easter.

Tony Woodley, Unite's joint general secretary, said: "This is an unprecedented move and it shows that Unite is absolutely determined to give our members all the support they deserve in winning this battle against the BA bullies. We continue to search for a decent settlement in this dispute, but cabin crew are not going to be driven back to work for lack of resources."

BA's chief executive, Willie Walsh, denies that the airline is bullying cabin crew and says he is keen to find a negotiated settlement.

The walkout, now in its sixth day, is adding to a long list of apparently irreconcilable issues between both sides. BA has stripped all 2,000-plus striking cabin crew of staff travel perks and Unite is demanding they be reinstated as a precondition for a deal. Walsh has refused and union officials are threatening more strikes after 14 April. No peace talks are scheduled, despite lobbying by Gordon Brown.

BA confirmed some strikers were being docked the equivalent of 12 days' wages if they were rostered for a long-haul trip during the walkout. A spokesman said some journeys, such as Heathrow to Sydney and back, involved a 12-day shift and would result in a significant wage deduction.

Unite, which is paying cabin crew £30 a day, has agreed to pay crew for the duration of their roster duty if they walked out on a long-haul shift. Its main cabin crew branch, Bassa, has incurred expenses by hiring football club premises near Heathrow as strike headquarters and leasing minibuses to drive striking crew members to picket lines around the airport.

BA has said that the latest wave of strike action is costing £5.5m per day, compared with £7m per day during the first walkout, which lasted three days. It said it had mitigated the cost of the latest strike by operating more than eight out of 10 long-haul flights. The carrier said it flew nearly 120,000 people at the weekend, compared with more than 86,000 the previous weekend.