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
GCHQ trade union ban been settled and that the 14 members will have suffered no long term financial loss for sticking by their principles." By this time out of the 14, eight had retired, three had returned to GCHQ, and three had taken jobs elsewhere. The ban was the second longest continuously fought dispute in British trade union history. GCHQ trade union ban The GCHQ trade union ban was a ban on trade union membership of employees at the Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham between 1984 and 1997. This was based on the claim by the Conservative government that it undermined national security. It