Thousands of British Airways cabin crew will stage a three-day strike at the end of this month in protest over sickness leave, pay and staffing, union leaders said on January 21.

The Transport and General Workers Union also warned that there would be two more three-day work stoppages in February if the dispute remained unresolved.

BA's flight attendants will strike between Jan 29 and 31, after the union said that negotiations with BA management broke down on January 21.

"British Airways management have completely failed to engage with the union on our compromise proposals and appear unwilling to listen," said Jack Dromey, the union's deputy general secretary.

"BA now have seven days to take their responsibility seriously and work with the union to avoid disruption to services and inconvenience to passengers. We are ready to resume talks at any time."

According to BA, however, it was the union that had refused to engage.

"Despite its public rhetoric, the union in private remains resolute in its refusal to talk with us about any degree of change for our cabin crew," a company statement said.

The airline claimed it had tabled "serious proposals" in an effort to break the deadlock, but said the union had "hardened its stance" in negotiations.

BA said that the union's proposals would "seriously undermine" the airline's competitiveness, and implored it to "pause to reflect before leading our cabin crew down a path of confrontation that can serve no positive purpose."

It also said that passengers traveling with BA between Jan 29 and Feb 16 would now be able to change the date of their trip.

The airline's staff belonging to the union backed industrial action by 96%, one of the biggest majorities in such a dispute, with 80% turnout in the vote on January 15.

The union said the cabin crew's concerns, including issues over the implementation of sickness leave, pay grading and onboard staffing levels, had built up over the last two years but had failed to be addressed properly by senior management.