Union leaders called on Sunday for talks with British Airways bosses to end strike action by cabin crew staff that has led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights and disrupted travel plans for thousands of passengers. The three-day action, which began on Saturday, has also proved a source of embarrassment for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown as it involves the Unite union, the ruling Labour party's biggest single financial backer. Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite, said in a letter to his members he hoped new talks with BA management could prevent a second four-day strike over pay and jobs planned for later this month. “Today, I will be appealing to British Airways at board level to take matters in hand and restart negotiations to reach an agreement which would allow the strike scheduled for next weekend to be averted and put your airline on the road to recovery,” he said. “We have said all along that negotiations, not litigation, intimidation nor confrontation is the way forward.”Unite and BA have disputed the impact of the strike, with the union saying it had received the support of 80 percent of its members while the airline's chief executive Willie Walsh said its plans were going better than expected.
