UPDATE 1-UK trade union Unite to pay striking BA cabin crew

* Cabin crew walkout continues to put pressure on PM Brown

* BA says latest stoppage costs 5.5 million pounds daily

* Talks under way to try to avert national rail strike (Add's BA statement on impact)

By Kylie MacLellan

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - The Unite union said on Monday it would raise 700,000 pounds ($1 million) from its members to support striking British Airways BAY.L cabin crew, staging a third day of industrial action and with no resolution in sight.

BA estimated the strike, the second this month, had so far cost about 5.5 million pounds a day, but said its profit outlook remained broadly unchanged. [ID:nWLB1184]

A three-day stoppage earlier in the month cost the airline around seven million pounds per day, BA said.

The strike is an embarrassment to the ruling Labour Party, trailing in opinion polls ahead of an election expected on May 6, because it receives most of its funding from unions.

Separate talks continued on Monday to avert a threatened four-day rail strike, which could be particularly damaging as its proposed start on April 6 coincides with when Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to announce the date of the election.

On Sunday, Conservative opposition leader David Cameron accused Labour of being weak in responding to recent strikes as it was too reliant on unions for funding ahead of the election. [ID:nLDE62R04A]

LEVY

The Unite union said a two percent levy would be placed on its branches for the next quarter to raise money to support the strikers, who walked out for the second time this month in a dispute over changes to working practices.

"We continue to search for a decent settlement in this dispute but cabin crew are not going to be driven back to work for lack of resources," Tony Woodley, Unite joint general secretary, said in a statement.

Unite, which represents about 90 percent of BA's 12,000 cabin crew, has threatened to call a third wave of industrial action after Easter if no progress is made, with crews likely to walk out again on April 14.

More than 120 BA flights from London's Heathrow Airport were cancelled on Monday, the BA website said, but all flights to and from London City and London Gatwick were operating normally.

BA said it had carried 37 percent more passengers during this strike period than the previous one, due to more cabin crew turning up for work.

"We are still on track to deliver our target of flying more than 75 percent of customers," a BA spokesman said.

Unite said only 359 cabin crew reported for work on Sunday, including 100 international employees who are not on strike, out of the 2,100 cabin crew rostered on a normal working day. BA is aiming to save 62.5 million pounds a year to counter falling demand, volatile fuel prices and greater competition.

Transport unions RMT and TSSA said last week they would walk out from April 6, in the first national rail strike in 16 years, over planned job cuts and changes to working practices at Network Rail, operator of the rail infrastructure.

"I am doing all I can to negotiate an end to the disputes to avoid a strike," said Network Rail chief executive Iain Coucher in a letter on its website. (Editing by Jon Hemming)