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Strike on at British Airways

March 19, 2010

London, England (CNN) — British Airways cabin crew members went on strike Saturday, leaving thousands of would-be passengers travel plans during the next two weeks up in the air.

The strike came after British Airways Chief Executive Willie Walsh and the joint general secretary of the Unite union, Tony Woodley, emerged Friday from a meeting and announced the effort to avert the walkout had failed.

"This company does not want to negotiate," Woodley said of British Airways. "This company wants ultimately to go to war with my members and the union."

Walsh said he "deeply regrets" the inconvenience the strikes will cause to passengers but said the company will still try to operate as many flights as possible. "I am disappointed the union has not been able to see the sense of the proposal we tabled today," Walsh said.

Advice for passengers

British Airways posted lists on its Web site of flights that it plans to operate during the walkout.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he "believes that this strike is in no ones interest and will cause unacceptable inconvenience to passengers. He urges the strike be called off immediately" and the two sides return to bargaining.

In addition to the three-day strike beginning Saturday, Unite has decided to strike for four more days beginning March 27. Unite represents 95 percent of BAs 15,000 cabin crew members, but not all of them plan to strike.

Politics »

Angry Dems meet with Pelosi over abortion issue

March 19, 2010

Washington (CNN) — The divisive issue of abortion is once again causing problems for House Democrats as they plan to move forward with the health care bill.

Anti-abortion Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, is asking for a vote on his language restricting taxpayer funding for abortion, and a group of female abortion-rights Democrats came out of an emergency meeting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office Friday evening visibly angry about the request.

Rep. Diana Degette, D-Colorado, told reporters a vote on Stupaks measure was a "nonstarter," saying, "somewhere between 40 and 55" abortion-rights Democrats would bolt from the bill.

"We are holding firm this time," she said. "If Mr. Stupak and a few members along with the Republicans decide to use this to take health care down, that loss of health care will be in their hands."

It wasnt clear whether Democratic leaders were seriously considering allowing a vote on Stupaks abortion language, or in what form.

But Stupak said he is in talks with Pelosi, D-California.

Business »

Report: Linux Gains Ground, Windows Stumbles

January 26, 2010

Linux inched ahead in the operating-system arena during the final month of 2009, even as Windows and Mac gave up some ground. That’s according to research firm Net Applications, which recently released its Market Share report covering operating systems in December. Linux accounted for 1.02 percent of the market in December, up from an even 1 percent the month before.