More unions vote to accept BA pension offer

Following a recommendation made by their reps, the Amicus professional union's 6,000 members at British Airways (BA) have voted in favour of the company's revised pensions package (see last month's Workplace Report).

National officer Brian Boyd described the last 10 months of uncertainty over pensions as "an extremely difficult period". He said the union's members had been unhappy with the company's proposals, but had "taken a practical view" following the intervention of unions to improve the original offer.

The same package was also endorsed last month by members of the pilots' union BALPA at BA, with 94% voting for acceptance.

The campaign to improve the quality of the pension schemes for new and existing members had "broken new ground and used tactics never before used by trade unions", said general secretary Jim McAuslan.

He praised the union's "mature approach to industrial relations", adding: "The lesson for employers is that, by properly engaging with unions, we can together find solutions to even the biggest problems."

The GMB general union is the only union whose members have rejected the package.