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
Edward Brown (British politician) Mayhew, the Liberal MP for Woolwich East who had defected from the Labour Party. He was knighted for his trade union work before he became an MP. 2. <nowiki>http://tinyurl.com/2fcpre6</nowiki> 24 October 2009 Edward Brown (British politician) Sir Edward Joseph Brown, MBE (15 April 1913 – 27 August 1991) was a British Conservative politician. Brown was educated at Morley College. He became a laboratory technician working with non-ferrous metals. He served as a councillor on Tottenham Borough Council from 1956 to 1962 and as chairman of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations from 1959-60. Brown contested Stalybridge and Hyde