Flaps, the only people to lose at easyJet are those who slave away the best working years of their life and expect to have more than a s..t sandwich at the end of it. That would be all of us, in case you hadn't noticed. Or at least those without a final salary pension from elsewhere propping them up.
The last deal would have put more into everyone's pension than the one on current offer and taken the possibility of losing the bonus for a non profit year. The company, unfortunately dressed it up in the usual fashion with a bunch of clauses designed to make things easier for them in the future and sneak a little bit back on the sector pay. (Every penny counts when you need the cash for contract staff, wet leased charters, positioning taxis, hotels and crazy recruiting schemes overseas!) Instead of trying to sort out the glitches in what was basically a soundly structured deal they chose to take their bat and ball and not play anymore and offer the current deal. Which once again is a rejig of the same cash pot, maybe a little more than what was originally touted, but still far short of the stated aims of the CC. I can understand why just over half the voting population will accept this. I will accept the majority decision (as if there were any other choice). I am just tired of being told what constitutes a 'great deal' and how scared people are of fighting for a better deal because the oil price is going up, blahdy, blahdy, blah. The industry has always gone up and down like a yo-yo. You need to get the best deal that you can when you are in a position to do so. The company has been over the last few years, and most thought that now was our turn to get a little back. It is apparent now that we don't really have the b..ls for the fight that would be needed to sort out a lot of the problems that we face. I personally don't hold out any hope for the so called 'lifestyle' negotiations. You can't negotiate with the likes of some of our current management, they are too far removed from the reality of 12/4 and will not give anything away without getting more back for it. When it comes down to it people still won't be prepared to really fight for it anyway. The oil situation will still be there, mortgages won't have gone away. We are a barking dog on a chain, noisy and angry looking, but still on a chain. If it has taken this long to sort out a pay deal how long do you think it will take to sort out 'lifestyle' in a company with knackered crew, not enough of them and no real hope of getting people to come, let alone keep the ones they have. In the mean time those of us with 20 or 30 years left in the industry (or less depending on the kero supply) will continue to vote with our feet and find a real career airline elsewhere.
No real surprises with any of this. EJ is a company that you come to, to get what is required for a better job, and then you move on. The people who stay do so for reasons usually tied up with family (not that you get to see them) and location. They would probably like to leave but it suits them not to and they will continue to bark and put up with what is thrown inside the reach of the chain. Not knocking them for it, as i can understand it totally, just that it is not for me. If i can get off the orange chain i will.