Re: BA pilots 'prepared to strike'
Its only a month since you were singing Willie's praises for taking out 600 managers in the 'willie swings his axe thread'. Don't know why you didn't see this coming - reactions like lightning. You need to win this as its just the thin end of the wedge.
This is surely a court battle over contracts not a strike. you're playing into his hands - he wants shot of the people who cost him most. You will give him the excuse to take you on in a fight he will have prepared for and you have not. You can hint at the cards in your hand but don't bring out big trumps till you have to.
Don't be fooled into believing you're irreplaceable, no element within a company is bigger than the company itself. eg US air traffic controllers under Reagan, some Aussie pilots still carry a list of strike breakers.
There are people in the wings who will accept your jobs on terms lower than yours but better than they're on, they're rated on the types you fly, they have TRE's, they can do your work and they are sitting in jobs at home and around the globe waiting for it. They would be here in a heartbeat.
There are going to be plenty of companies messing with final salary pensions over the coming years; 40%-60% of companies depending on which research you follow. There needs to be a counter attack in the courts, it is the only way. You will not have public support for a strike, even over pensions, you may do one day but not yet, more companies have to act, more people need to be affected before a general strike could work.
Don't believe the public remember Robert Maxwell either, the public is made up largely of people who don't know what the daily mirror is let alone who spent its pension fund. There are not enough of the DM pension fund losers left and I doubt they have a voice even in the paper they once produced. The press is largely quiet following Rentokil's action, probably because these big media companies are going to do the very same thing in the fullness of time - it's economics and demographics.
Good luck, I know there is an element within BA that think criticism by the non-BA amongst us make us anti-BA but it isn't always true. We need you to win or there will be little hope of retaining any sensible level of conditions in the companies where we ply our trade. To be honest your battle is uphill all the way so do it right, you only have one go at this approach it must be successful.