Gentlemen,
I am extremely distressed at some of the foul-mouthed diatribe I am reading, and I think it is overdue to call a stop to this nonsense. I have avoided entering in to this debate before now but it has got totally out of hand.
Lest any of you have any doubt who I am, I was proud to be the Chairman of the CC for about two years, until April this year. I probably still would be, but nearly lost my medical in the process due to the sheer stress of the work involved.
Firstly, a great many changes have taken place to our working arrangements over the last few years. Remember also, that the CC is an unpaid body of volunteers who freely give their time to protect YOUR pay and conditions. As Ojay quite rightly points out, the airline he is about to join has a high Balpa membership and the best terms and conditions in the industry. A few years ago, VAA got a 26.5% pay rise with a membership level above 90%!! In other words, the members gave their CC the tools to do the job, and they did it well in both cases.
We all know easyJet is difficult; they strive to cut costs, frequently at their own employees expense. They have tried to make us competitive to ensure you have a job in the future, yet we all give a 100% and often don't get rewarded the same way. Let me correct a few misconceptions:
To the
PR!CK that insulted FlapsOnes personal integrity and professionalism, how dare you suggest he has secured his promotion on the basis of his CC work. This guy above all others has given two years of unparalleled support to you all and this attack is shameful. Bearing in mind he has often been at loggerheads with the company during this time , it is actually very surprising that they promoted him.So to is the suggestion that some of the CC who got paid out for their shares capitulated to managment in the process! One of these is the ex Rostering sub-committee and another was the CC chairman before me, another a well-respected Base Trainer from LPL. I don't think anyone would accuse MC of being a management stooge!!!!These guys were lied to, and sought to get justice and did so.This was going on while they were acting on your behalf to secure better terms for YOU, so I hope you feel suitably shamed by this outright lie.
Remember gentlemen, those who complain about the CC should rememeber that it is a member -driven organisation and a few years ago we did a survey to find out what you wanted. A similar survey was done recently. Sometimes, in negotiations, something has to be given away to get or retain something bigger. A case in point was the 8 Public Holidays, which were traded so that you ALL could have Summer leave this year, or we would still be at the negotiating table. The horrible mess of the GDO system suggests thast one day soon, the 5th week may be restored and if it is, it will be down to the CC. For those who suggest the 5/2/5/4 is not working properly, have a close look at the current shortages across the network; it was never envisaged that they would run the crews so low or train new Airbus bases over Summer, or many other things they do but this is not our fault.
I could go on all night but nothing would be impossible if we had the tools to do the job, we would be able to tell the easyJet management what we want. I suggest each and every one of you has a good look at what you want, and think long and hard about what you are prepared to do to get it. But don't come crying to me if you are not a member of Balpa, or are not prepared to do some of the fighting yourself.