Up to 14,000 British Airways cabin crew are to vote on whether to take industrial action in a dispute over contracts, their union said Monday.
Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of Unite, Britain's biggest union, said he was prepared to hold talks with the airline although he would support members if they voted for action.
The loss-making airline said earlier this month that it would cut the equivalent of 1,700 staff in Britain and is planning a two-year freeze on basic pay for cabin crew.
It is seeking to cut costs to cope with a slump in demand, volatile fuel prices and increased competition from low-cost airlines.
"BA management's determination to impose unacceptable contractual changes on cabin crew leaves us no alternative," Simpson said in a statement. "Negotiation, not imposition, is the only proper way to conduct industrial relations."
The union said the plans would involve significant contractual changes for remaining employees and introduce "a second tier workforce on poorer pay and conditions".
BA said it was disappointed by the decision to hold a ballot, but stressed the changes to staff contracts will go ahead as planned from November 16.
The cuts to the number of cabin crew on each plane have allowed the airline to accept a large number of requests for voluntary redundancy, part-time contracts and staff transfers between different parts of the business, BA said.
"We have put together a package of changes, which despite the unprecedented financial circumstances facing the company, not only protects current cabin crew but also offers many new benefits," the airline said in a statement.
"We have made it clear that there will be no change to the individual terms and conditions of our current crew. They will not take a pay cut. In fact some 75 percent of crew will receive a pay scale increase worth between two and seven per cent this year and again next year."
The airline's proposed new salaries for new cabin crew recruits will be ahead of the market rate, it added.
