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British Airways cabin crew have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike in a dispute over job cuts and changes to staff contracts. The strikes are set to begin on 22 December and run until 2 January. They are expected to cause significant disruption over the Christmas period. Cabin crew voted by nine to one in favour of the strike action. It follows a long dispute between the unions and BA, which is intent on cutting costs to ensure its survival. "It goes without saying that we have taken this decision to disrupt passengers and customers over the Christmas period with a heavy heart," said Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary of the Unite union. He stressed that the union was keen to continue negotiations. "We will wait, ready to meet, anytime, anywhere, 24 hours a day, to try to see if we can resolve the dispute." The British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association, a section of Unite, also said it was unhappy about taking strike action. "We are deeply saddened to have reached the point where we must take industrial action to get our voices heard, but feel that we have been left with no other choice," it said. Unions are unhappy about job cuts and changes to staff contracts, which they say they have not been consulted on. Last month, BA announced plans to cut a further 1,200 jobs in an attempt to slash costs. It also wants to cut the number of cabin crew from 15 to 14 on all long-haul flights, and freeze pay for two years. Unite said that the cuts involved imposing "significant contractual changes" on cabin crew employees, resulting in extended working hours, and reduced wages for new starters. BA says it urgently needs to cut costs to ride out its dire financial situation. In the first half of the year, BA lost �292m the worst first-half losses in the company's history. It is not yet clear how serious the disruption will be or which flights will be cancelled.