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 LONDON (AP) - Gate Gourmet Inc., the U.S. company that provides in-flight meals for British Airways PLC, postponed talks Wednesday with a union on solving a labor dispute that is key to the cash-strapped caterer signing a new deal with the airline.
BA was forced to cancel hundreds of flights earlier this month when a decision by the caterer to fire almost half its London staff touched off strikes by workers at both companies. The carrier agreed Tuesday to give Gate Gourmet more money and extend its contract to 2010, but only if the caterer resolves the dispute with the union representing the workers, the Transport and General Workers Union.
The caterer and union both said they would resume formal talks on Wednesday, after they ended Tuesday with company chairman David Siegel insisting he would not re-hire all the workers fired by the company. The union has demanded the workers be reinstated, and threatened further strike action if they are not.
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