LONDON, May 14 (UPI) -- Officials at the British airline BA said Friday they will go to court next week to throttle plans by unionized cabin crew members to strike.
The Unite union has called for a series of four five-day walkouts beginning Tuesday. However, BA said it will go to High Court Monday to seek an injunction to stop the strike, the BBC reported.
In a statement outlining its reasons for going to court, BA said it believes United failed to comply with a 1992 law requiring unions to provide details of strike vote results.
Unite said 71 percent of BA's cabin crew who belong to the union voted with 81 percent of them rejecting BA's latest pay and working conditions offer last week. Details of the contract offer have not been disclosed.
The threat of a court fight came after the conciliation service ACAS and the British Airline Pilots Association called for the two sides to hold talks, the British network said.
BA said it would "respond positively" to the invitation and a Unite representative said the union is "ready to meet with BA under any auspices to try to find a solution."
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has urged the two sides to "hammer out a solution."
"Let's cancel this strike, let's sit down around the table and hammer out a solution in the interests of passengers, in the interests of the U.K. economy ... and, if I may say so, in the long-term interests of the workers involved in this dispute," Hammond said.
