Virtually every week South Africa is besieged by strike action, but it’s usually resolved within a matter of days and we then move on to the next issue – or strike.

British Airways, however, has been battling with their unresolved issues since November last year and it now looks as if they are facing a fresh strike threat after cabin crew rejected the airline’s latest final pay offer aimed at ending the long-running dispute. The offer included two years of guaranteed rises in basic salary from February 2011 in addition to annual incremental pay.

Not only did 67% of the union members vote against the airline’s offer, but the cabin crew branch of Unite, The British Airways Stewards and Stewardesses Association (Bassa), also published a guide detailing what it considered to be the good and bad points of the deal.

Good points include the possible expansion of work at Gatwick airport, the pledge of non-victimisation of workers involved in disciplinary cases and the partial reinstatement of staff travel. The bad list includes the “vastly reduced” terms and conditions for new staff, no further recruitment to BA’s current fleet of aircraft and the continued dismissal of staff in what it called a “disproportionate and unfair way”.

The dispute began late last year over BA’s plans to cut costs by reducing the number of cabin crew on flights. Cabin crews have thus far taken 22 days of strike action as the dispute continues and the long-running saga has cost the airline £150 million to date.

Perhaps they should send a delegation out to South Africa to learn just how to handle these matters and resolve them while the company is still standing.