12:23am Monday 15th March 2010
© Press Association 2011
Gordon Brown personally intervened in a bid to prevent planned strike action by British Airways cabin crew, it has been claimed.
The Prime Minister is said to have telephoned the joint general secretary of the Unite union, Tony Woodley, this weekend to discuss possible solutions to the dispute.
The move emerged as the Government was embroiled in an extraordinary row with the country's biggest union - and one of Labour's biggest donors.
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said the planned seven days of industrial action could put the future of the airline at risk, calling the walkouts "totally unjustified".
Unite hit back at the minister, saying he was "badly informed" about the long-running dispute, adding that he should be urging the airline to reinstate an offer it withdrew last week. Privately, union officials were said to be "livid" with Lord Adonis, one saying he had "blundered" into the dispute without knowing all the facts.
It is understood that the union made representations to 10 Downing Street about the minister's intervention.
Lord Adonis appealed to Unite to return to the negotiating table in an attempt to avert the industrial action planned to begin with a three day strike from next Saturday, followed by a four day stoppage from the following weekend.
Lord Adonis told BBC1's Andrew Marr show: "The impact this will have will not only be deeply damaging on passengers, it will... threaten the very existence of British Airways. The stakes are incredibly high in this strike. I absolutely deplore the strike, it is not only the damage it is going to do passengers and the inconvenience it's going to cause - which is quite disproportionate to the issues at stake - but also the threat it poses to the future of one of our great companies in this country.
"It's totally unjustified, the strike, on the merits of the issues at stake. I do call on the union to engage constructively with the company at this late stage. This is an industrial dispute and it needs to be sorted out by proper negotiations."
A Unite spokesman said: "Lord Adonis appears badly informed. We all want to avoid strike action and Unite is always ready to negotiate. Unite was preparing to put BA's offer to our members. Had they accepted it, there would be no strikes."
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