Although the result is not yet known, a meeting took place yesterday (Wed 7th Dec) between BALPA and the company to discuss the affordability of the pay claim. The management wheeled in a tame city economist who was there to show how poor the company is and can barely afford their electricity bill, whereas BALPA brought along their economic expert to show that there was loads of dosh in the kitty.
I have one question about the whole thing - and on this for me the whole issue turns. If we cannot afford a decent pay rise, how can we afford vast pay rises for our directors and senior managers? The truth is that no credible answer to this question exists as any reply merely exposes the cynical greed and self-interest of our senior managers. Fortunately, the pilot workforce has now woken up to the unsavoury truth and sees that the only real defence against this is to be part of BALPA. This is an issue of market forces as that is what our managers repsond to. They need to know that we are a powerful market force which has to be considered before embarking on any ill-conceived plan to defraud the workforce. We simply have no choice but to fight here or our futures will be bleak indeed. If you have not yet joined, there is no time like the present!