British Airways cabin crew have rejected the airline's latest offer to end their long-running dispute, their union said today, raising the prospect of fresh strikes.
Members of the Unite union, Britain's biggest trade union, voted by 3,419 to 1,686 against the offer, dashing hopes of an end to the bitter row over cost-cutting and travel perks for staff.
British Airways said it was nonetheless "encouraged" by the low turnout for the ballot -- 11,000 cabin crew staff were eligible to vote -- and called again for Unite to back its "fair offer."
Unite's joint general secretary Tony Woodley said a ballot on fresh strike action was now possible, but he said the union would prefer more talks and he called on BA boss Willie Walsh to return to negotiations.
"Wake up Willie and smell the coffee, let's get round the table and let's get a settlement here," Woodley told reporters.
BA's offer included a 2.9 percent pay rise next year and a three percent pay increase the following year.
The airline had also promised to partially reinstate travel concessions to some staff members -- key perks which have been taken away from striking workers.
Unite had postponed further strike action last month to allow members to vote on what BA said was its "final" proposal.
"With only around a quarter of our cabin crew voting against the deal, support for Unite is ebbing away," BA said in a statement.
"The union has lost the moral authority to represent the views of our cabin crew.
"We would urge them to come back to the table to sign the agreement and end the dispute."
The loss-making airline has already been hit by 22 days of strikes this year by cabin crew, costing the company more than 150 million pounds (177 million euros, 228 million dollars), according to Unite.
BA's share price sank 1.44 percent to 199 pence on the London stock market after the news.
If Unite does decide to press on with industrial action, the first strike could hit BA in September.
The spat between the airline and Unite began last year and initially centered on a pay dispute.
Yet having reached a broad agreement on pay, the row then switched to the heavily discounted flights available to off-duty cabin crew.
Ahead of Tuesday's no vote, Unite had opted to stay neutral regarding BA's latest offer and did not make any recommendations on how to vote to its members.
BA, which has been hammered by the global economic downturn, plans to merge with Spanish rival Iberia in a bid to return to profitability.
Last week, Europe's competition watchdog cleared the way for the tie-up, which would create one of the world's biggest airlines.
In May, BA announced a record annual pre-tax loss of 531 million pounds (626 million euros, 805 million dollars).