Uncertainty still surrounds the BA pension deal

A 70% turnout among 4,500 GMB members voted by 68% to 32% to reject the deal.

The union will now meet the airline's chief executive Willie Walsh for further talks on Wednesday.

Ed Blissett, the GMB's chief negotiator, said the deal was "skewed in favour of the pilots - it is not fair and it is not equitable."

"The members clearly believe that the current pension offer favours the highest paid workers in BA at the expense of the lowest paid," he added.

At the end of January the company narrowly averted a series of strikes by its cabin crews over sickness absence and pay scales.

Negotiated changes

BA has been negotiating changes to its final salary pension scheme since March last year, with the possibility of a major industrial relations dispute if a deal could not be reached.

The company published a final version last month of its plan to close the �2.1 bn deficit in the scheme.

The negotiators for the four unions at BA agreed to consult with their members over the plan, which will mean that they either work for longer or pay higher pension contributions, for service after April this year.

In return the company pledged to inject up to �950m into the fund in the next three years, and pay a further �280m in each of the next 10 years.

Minority of one?

Last week the trustees of the BA pension scheme gave their formal agreement to the deal, which has been recommended to staff by the negotiators for three unions - Balpa, T&GWU and Amicus.

Balpa members have voted in favour while T&GWU members are still being consulted.

The GMB union may now to be in a minority of one.

But its main negotiator Ed Blissett said it was not clear if all the other unions' members had yet voted in favour.

He said it would only a need a "slight change in the plan to improve matters" for his members, who largely lower paid check-in and ground staff.

But asked if his union would consider going on strike on its own over the issue he replied "we will cross that bridge when we come to it."