Airline Unions Look To Forge Closer Links Across Oneworld Alliance

The International Transport Workers' Federation, an umbrella of trades unions, said Thursday it will forge closer links with unions across the oneworld airline alliance to strengthen worker resistance against restructuring in the industry.

Unions belonging to the oneworld alliance, which includes British Airways, a unit of International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG.LN, IAG.MC), and AMR Corp.'s (AMR) American Airlines, will meet in Washington, U.S. in April to discuss the setting up of a labor council coordinating committee.

The IFT said unions will meet to "flesh out the idea" of a council that would co-ordinate activity and information, while also looking to develop joint strategies and tactics. They will discuss methods to update each other on the status of negotiations with airlines and consider how to provide practical help, IFT added.

Over the past couple of years, many airlines have looked to radically restructure operations during the economic downturn, which has led to a series of industrial actions.

One of the most prominent disputes between a workforce and its airline is the ongoing row between British Airways and its cabin crew, which has lasted some two years and is once again facing further strikes after the union, Unite, informed BA it will ballot for the fourth time on March 1.

ITF civil aviation section Vice Chairman Brendan Gold, said, the ITF is committed to building a strong and active global network of unions "as a necessary counterbalance to the employers in the airline alliances."

Gold, who is also the national officer for civil aviation at U.K. union Unite, and involved in the BA dispute, said: "This need has become more pressing with the growing impact of alliance policies and strategies on the actions and decisions of individual airlines and on our members' jobs. There is a growing risk that those who actually work for the twelve major airlines are not being heard."

A spokesman for oneworld didn't immediately comment.

Oneworld also counts Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (0293.HK) and Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN.AU) among its members.

-By Kaveri Niththyananthan, Dow Jones Newswires; 4420 7842 9299; [e-mail]