Fresh hope after BA talks

There is hope today that the threat of holiday strike chaos at both Heathrow and Gatwick next month can be averted. Talks through the night at Acas were adjourned shortly before 6am.

The negotiations between British Airways and two of the three main unions involved in the pay and conditions dispute - the Transport and General Workers and Amicus - were said to have been "constructive" and conducted in a "friendly atmosphere."

They will resume at 5pm - a clear indication that some real progress has been made. At one point negotiators sent out for fish and chips. A third union, the GMB, which has said it will press ahead with a strike ballot among check-in and ground staff at both Heathrow and Gatwick, was not present, but this was thought to be because of a misunderstanding. It is expected the union will attend tonight's talks. Amicus has also said it will ballot Heathrow members but the T&G said it will wait pending the outcome of the Acas negotiations.

Mervyn Walker, BA director of Heathrow, said: "A wide range of issues were discussed. We have made some positive progress. The talks were constructive and we will be back again this evening."

That was endorsed by T&G leader Sir Bill Morris, who confirmed there had been "extensive examinations" of the issues.

At the centre of the dispute is the issues of "swipe"cards to check in staff to clock on and off.

Staff, most of whom are women and paid only between £12,000 and £14,000 a year, fear it will lead to job losses and prevent informal "swaps" between shifts.

Many of the workers, some of whom are part-time, use a swap system for coping with children at school. BA denies it will worsen working conditions and that the swipe card is merely "updating" the present method of signing in for work in a book.

However, strength of feeling against the swipe cards is running high. There was chaos at Heathrow when check-in staff staged wildcat strike action last Friday evening and into Saturday. Some passengers had to wait days and the backlog was only finally cleared yesterday.

The unions have warned that if the Acas talks break down they expect the strike ballots - which will take two or three weeks to complete - to return an overwhelming yes vote.