Hi Carnage Matey!
Of course the management is trying to take money from us! Directly, by taking away breakfast allowances at LGW, and indirectly by removing the possibility of promotion for us. I don't want to strike, but I hope that a threat to strike might bring the management team back to the table to take our concerns more seriously and not just tell us that they will be imposed upon us whether we like it or not. I am in this job for the longhaul (ho ho), and I want this airline to be world-class. But it kinda sticks in my throat when our management are being given huge bonuses and I am being asked to tighten my belt.
I don't feel I am overpaid in the slightest. I recently enquired about a job in teaching and was surprised to learn that teachers earn more than me. So do nurses. I am not saying I am more qualified (although I have a degree - I know, my choice to do this job...but a job I KNOW I excel at..), but that lovely BOY IN BLUE mentioned that we are not trained to nurses levels or firemen's standards. And they also do shift work. While this may be true, few jobs expect you to do a day shift on day 1, a night shift on day 2/3, another day shift on day 4 and another night shift on day 5/6. And then expect you to do CPR on someone (yes, I've done that); be prepared and trained enough to fight a fire; console a breaved passenger, take the cheese tray up to the Flight Crew and exchange niceties with them; speak to a foreign passenger in their tongue; and all the while, stay awake, with a smile on your (groomed) face despite the fact that your feet are killing you.
No-one is saying that we are Florence Nightingale, and this is a job a lot of people choose to do because they love the life-style. I am good at my job, I enjoy interacting with my flight-and cabin crew colleagues and passengers alike. I have a brain and earned more temping as a secretary while I awaited the outcome of my interview, but there are not that many people out there that are equipped to do this job as well as I - or many of my lovely, hard-working colleagues are.
So yes, I am going to fight to keep my working conditions from deteriorating.