AVIATION/ BA STRIKE BLOCKED BY U.K. COURT

A strike by BRITISH AIRWAYS cabin crew planned for Christmas has been declared illegal in a UK High Court ruling. The judge agreed with BA that the cabin crew's union, Unite, had not correctly balloted its members on the strike action. The injunction means that the 12-day strike cannot now go ahead. Unite called it "a disgraceful day for democracy" and vowed to hold a fresh ballot of cabin crew if the dispute with BA was not resolved. "There is something wrong with the law," said the Unite joint general secretary.   He admitted that while there would be "great euphoria" among the travelling public, the union would immediately put in place plans for a fresh ballot alongside its continuing negotiations with BA. If Unite does go ahead with another ballot, industrial relations laws would mean that fresh industrial action could not be announced until well into the new year. The judge in the case agreed with BA that Unite's ballot was invalid because it included workers that had already accepted voluntary redundancy. The judge also poured scorn on the timing of the planned strike. "A strike of this kind over the 12 days of Christmas is fundamentally more damaging to BA and the wider public than a strike taking place at almost any other time of the year," she said. The judge also refused the union permission to appeal, but the union could apply directly to the Court of Appeal. British Airways said the decision would be welcomed by "hundreds of thousands of families in the UK and around the world".