UK's Unite Union seeks U.S support for BA strike

LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) - Officials from Britain's Unite union will meet representatives of the powerful U.S. Teamsters union in Washington on Wednesday, ahead of a planned British Airways BAY.L cabin crew strike at the weekend.

The Teamsters, which has 1.4 million members, confirmed it would hold talks with Britain's largest union but did not say if it would play any part in the industrial action.

"We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters at Unite who are fighting for a fair contract at British Airways," Teamsters said in a statement.

Unite, which was not immediately available for comment on the Teamsters meeting, has called out BA cabin crew on a three-day strike from Saturday, with a four-day walkout scheduled for March 27.

BA has trained staff from other areas of the company to fill-in as cabin crew during the action and expressed dismay at the latest development.

"It is sad to see Unite seeking backing from trade unions overseas to support its unjustified strike against an iconic British brand," a spokesman said.

The Conservative transport spokeswoman Theresa Villiers said Unite was deliberately seeking to cause maximum disruption.

"Unite should not be striking at all and trying to spread the dispute to other countries is even more irresponsible," Villiers said in a statement.

The opposition Conservatives have used the strike to attack Prime Minister Gordon Brown over his ruling Labour Party's funding links to the union. [nLDE62F1M3] (Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Jon Boyle)