Originally Posted by
RexBanner
Nostradamus come back to life has he? Mystic Meg?
Seriously though the more you get to know these people the more you realise they’re just as clueless as the rest of us. Nobody has the faintest idea what the timescale on recovery is going to be but it sure gives them ammunition for an attack on Ts and Cs if they paint the direst picture possible.
Spot on and this is the main reason why top Managers should not play with people's lives without credible data during a crisis of this magnitude. The government wants to avoid at all costs mass redundancies and this is why Willie Walsh must explain in detail why BA keeps ignoring the Government"s approach whilst simultaneously taking advantage of Government funds. Obviously something doesn't sound right. The main issue is around the fact that Covid19 seems a great opportunity to force a massive restructure of BA obtained through mass dismissal of the entire workforce during the biggest crisis in Aviation history. Something the Government will try to avoid at all costs. It will set up a very dangerous precedent if successful, in a sector already dominated by a "race to the bottom". If BA can do it many others will follow across all sectors of the economy.
What a better opportunity to increase future profits by changing all contracts in the middle of this panic and reduce salaries + T&Cs?
The entire UK workforce should be united in keeping decent working conditions across all sectors of the economy especially now.
Let's not forget that only a few years back Willie Walsh strongly reiterated that a high number of BA contracts were not sustainable and BA's survival was at risk, the strikes were successful and WW was proven wrong due to the huge profits reported by BA since then, much larger profits than the other IAG airlines.
It is clearly not about survival at this stage but it seems another move "to increase personal bonuses if targets are met".
It is a highly complex battle however forcing your entire workforce to sign new contracts during this crisis is an act of war against your workforce. The consequences on staff morale and engagement will be catastrophic whatever the final outcome. Massive morale & trust damage is already done and I do not think such a massive betrayal from the highest ranks of BA can be resolved by BA and the Unions alone. This act of war is much bigger than anything seen before so either BA will win or the existing Management will have to be replaced. It might even end up with the Government retaking (partial) control of BA (for as long as necessary) as already happening in other countries.
It is an act of war and trust has been fully and permanently demolished in between this BA top management & the entire BA workforce.
They should have announced the possibility of redundancies in the future and nothing else (same as other airlines).
The act of war is the mass dismissals and unilaterally imposed re-employment on new contracts on much lower T&Cs and salaries. This is the essence of this cruel act of war.
Obviously the workforce must defend and respond accordingly on behalf of all UK (and beyond) salaried workers.