Senior Labour figures accused of putting unions before ordinary Brits as they join up with striking British Airways workers
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell told the Unite members they were “heroes and heroines of our movement”
LABOUR has been accused of putting union paymasters ahead of ordinary Brits as its top team joined striking British Airways workers – and called them “heroes”.
Clive Lewis, Shadow Business Secretary manned a picket line of cabin crew staff, declaring: “Their fight is our fight.”
Taking to Twitter he said: “Genuine pleasure to speak at Unite the Union BA picket line this am. Great turnout, music and atmosphere!”
Earlier Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell addressed staff who have walked out in a dispute over “poverty pay”.
He told the Unite members they were “heroes and heroines of our movement” and accused British Airways of “bloodymindedness”.
BA was forced to cancel 12 flights on Thursday, such as round trips to Aberdeen, Bologna, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Oslo. A similar round of cancellations is expected on Friday.
The dispute centres on the wages for cabin crew in a new ‘mixed fleet’ brought into the workforce since 2010.
Unite claims they earn as little as £12,000 and are forced to sleep in cars by Heathrow before shifts.
The claims are bitterly denied by British Airways – which says a pay offer for the crew is consistent with deals agreed with Unite for other staff at the airline.
Tory backbencher Luke Hall said: “Yet again Labour is demonstrating a total disregard for the misery and disruption suffered by people affected by these strikes.
“While Labour MPs man the picket lines and ‘fight’ for the union paymasters, the Conservatives will get on with the job of building a country that works for everyone.”