British Airways and replace them with agency staff; it is estimated that the strike cost British Airways £30 million and caused disruption to 100,000 passengers. In October 2006, BA became involved in a civil rights dispute when a Christian employee was forbidden to wear a necklace bearing the cross, a religious symbol. BA's practice of forbidding such symbols has been publicly questioned by British politicians such as the former Home Secretary John Reid and the former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. Relations have been turbulent between BA and Unite. In 2007, cabin crew threatened strike action over salary changes to be imposed by
John W. Brown (British trade unionist) John W. Brown (British trade unionist) John William Brown (born 1886) was a British trade union leader and political activist. He came to greatest prominence as general secretary of the International Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU). Brown attended Christchurch School in Barnet, then Luton Technical School, followed by Ruskin College, from which he received a Diploma in Economic and Physical Science, validated by the University of Oxford. In 1919, he became the secretary of the Shipping Clerks' Guild, a trade union. Brown also became active in the Labour Party, and stood as its candidate in the St Albans by-election, 1919.