LONDON (AP) — Planned strikes by British Airways staff are unjustified and threaten the future of the company, Britain's transportation secretary said yesterday.

In an interview with the BBC, Andrew Adonis called on the union representing the airline's cabin crew to call off the strikes, scheduled to take place later this month.

"I believe if they could continue these negotiations in a constructive way, it would be possible to call this strike off," Adonis said. "And I call on them to engage in those negotiations and to put the public first and to put the company first, and not to take action which not only would be deeply damaging to the economy and to the public, but which could threaten the very jobs of their members which they're seeking to protect."

Unite, which represents 13,000 BA cabin crew, announced last week that walkouts are scheduled for three days from March 20 and another four days from March 27. At issue are a pay freeze and changes to working conditions.

"It is not only the damage it's going to do to passengers and the inconvenience it's going to cause, which is quite disproportionate to the issues at stake, but also the threat it poses to the future of one of our great companies in this country," Adonis said. "It's totally unjustified."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for both sides to return to the negotiating table — and Unite said they had been willing to keep talking. The union said it had been planning to ballot its members on an offer from BA, but that the airline withdrew it without explanation.

"Unite was preparing to put BA's offer to our members. Had they accepted it, there would be no strikes," the union said in a statement. "Lord Adonis should publicly urge management to put that offer back on the table. Should they do so, there is still a possibility of peace."

However, assistant general secretary Len McCluskey said on Friday the union wouldn't recommend the offer to its members, saying it fell short of what it believed was needed to address its members' concerns.