"Unite", the UK's biggest trade union which was launched this week, has announced that it has signed an agreement with one of the UK's leading holiday airlines, Thomas Cook. The agreement means that more than 1,000 cabin crew working for the airline will now have their pay, holidays and hours of work negotiated by collective bargaining as part of Unite, representing workers in civil aviation in Great Britain.

The agreement was signed voluntarily by the company, after an organising campaign had taken place. Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite, said: "Reaching out to new members, like those at this airline, is the main focus of the new union Unite. We are delighted to have signed this recognition agreement first as not only can we ensure we win for Thomas Cook Airlines workers, it is a crucial part of our strategy to organise workers in the aviation sector."

The news of the new agreement was received enthusiastically by the ITF. "We applaud this decision at Thomas Cook and hope it demonstrates to companies, like Ryanair, that fair pay and decent working conditions for all airline workers makes the industry stronger and safer," said Ingo Marowsky, ITF Civil Aviation Secretary.

Even the airline's management was supportive for the document, expressing the hope that a single union representing all cabin crew will establish more efficient and representative lines of communication.