This from the BALPA website:
MORE VOTES FOR STRIKES IN BMI
The British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) announced this afternoon that pilots in two more divisions of BMI, the third largest airline in Britain, have voted to take strike action.
Pilots in BMI Mainline, the original division of the company which flies a major part of its operation out of Heathrow, voted by 89% to 11% to take strike action in a 92% poll.
Pilots in BMI Regional, voted by 86% to 13% to take strike action in a 97% poll.
These results follow the ballot in bmi baby, the ‘low frills’ division of the airline, where 73% of pilots voted for industrial action and 27% against.
‘This means that pilots in all three BMI subsidiaries have voted to strike,’ said Jim McAuslan, General Secretary of BALPA. ‘One could be an accident, two a coincidence but with all three pilot groups supporting strike action we have revealed a real feeling of injustice among pilots. Although there are separate and specific issues of dispute in each division, the overarching concern is that the company is bulldozing through change.
‘Pilots are highly professional people but in BMI they feel they are not appreciated, there is a total lack of respect.
‘ Pilots in bmi baby had their take home pay cut without any consultation whatsoever. Pilots in BMI Mainline are having their pension scheme contributions increased from 10% to 18.5%. Pilots in BMI Regional have poor roster arrangements which become unmanageable as a result of fatigue-inducing changes. And all these results together show that BMI pilots are saying is enough is enough.’
Now that all three ballot results are in, BALPA will decide when strikes will take place.
A wide range of airports will be affected, including Heathrow, Aberdeen, Manchester, Norwich, Southampton, Stornoway, Cardiff, Birmingham, East Midlands, Teesside, Edinburgh and Belfast.
‘Our dispute is not with the travelling public,’ Jim McAuslan said, ‘so we shall give as much notice as possible of strike days so that individuals can make alternative travel arrangements.
‘We are pleased the company has now agreed to have crisis talks, which will begin next week. The company will have to come back to the negotiating table with a new attitude to each of the individual issues in dispute, and with it a real commitment to tackling the underlying causes. That is why we suggested that the arbitration service ACAS become involved.’