Lord Adonis has entered the argument over the impending BA cabin crew industrial action.

The UK government has spoken out over the impending industrial action by British Airways (BA) cabin crew, and said the strikes are “unjustified” and “deplorable”.

Last week Unite the Union, which represents BA cabin crew, announced that its members would be taking industrial action over a period of seven days – 20, 21, 22 March and 27, 28, 29 and 30 March 2010.

Talks between BA and Unite in the long-running dispute over changes to cabin crew schedules and planned redundancies broke down last week when Unite says BA management turned down an offer from the union.

“Regrettably, management turned down a remarkable offer from the union which would have given the company everything it said it wanted while also meeting our members’ concerns. The company contests our calculations, but quibbles over the precise costing of concessions pale into significance compared to the losses that BA will sustain in the event of an industrial dispute,” threatened Len McClusky, Unite Assistant General Secretary and lead negotiator.

Unite says that BA has no intention of seeking an agreement, an observation firmly refuted by BA.

“Unite’s action has no shred of justification. British Airways’ crew are rightly renowned for their professionalism and skills. Out entire package for crew recognises that and is reasonable and fair.

“British Airways is facing two years of record financial losses. Unlike other businesses, we have avoided compulsory redundancies and made changes designed to secure a long-term future for our company and our staff. Cabin crew face no pay cut or reduction in terms and conditions – and remain the best rewarded in the UK airline industry.”

This weekend (14 March) the UK government finally spoke out over the impending strikes. Discussing the issue on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said he “deplored the strike,” and called on the union to revert to talks with BA before too much harm is done.

“The damage …. is quite disproportionate to the issues at stake, and also the threat it poses to the future of one of our great companies in this country. It’s totally unjustified, this strike, on the merits of the issues at stake.”

Following Lord Adonis’ comments, Unite has begun a war of words with the Transport Secretary. A spokesman for Unite said: “Lord Adonis appears badly informed. We want to avoid strike action and Unite is always ready to negotiate. Unite was preparing to put BA’s offer to our members. Had they accepted it, there would be no strikes.

“Lord Adonis should publicly urge management to put that offer back on the table. If he [Lord Adonis] is not prepared to speak out, he risks being seen as taking the part of a bullying and intransigent management.”

Although the union has promised that there will be no disruption over the Easter period, travellers are sure to be disgruntled over this latest move by Unite and its members, which will once again draw little sympathy from across the board.

BA has published a list of flights on its website which may be affected by the proposed strikes and said it has temporarily stopped selling seats on flights operating on the strike dates. Click here to see the latest information.