along with engineers for their point of view.
Ok then, I totally agree with Warkman. If you look at it logically then if 1000 crew voted yes and another 1000+ are not in the union at all then that is not a good starting point, When it hits home that you do not get paid for striking I am sure that will adjust the yes/no balance even further against a strike.
As warkman has already said if you strike for a week then that is a 2% payrise lost, if you strike for a month then you need 8%+ and you will still be no better off for a year and you will have lost your collegues their jobs. Does that really make sense.
A lot of the other staff I have spoken to are very worried about the possible outcome of a strike and see the crew as (get ready for the flames) selfish. We all work hard and very often have to go even further than the mile beyond the extra mile to keep you all flying. Ok perhaps we earn more but we are at work more and we do can't just do our job for a couple of years before moving on as it takes us at least 7 years to qualify properly. On a hourly rate comparison a technician who has just completed his/her 4 YEARS basic training can expect about the same as CC. To get any amount more he/she has to then sit about 2 years worth of complete b****rd exams in their own time and financed by themselves. They then have to buy all their own tools which can easily run into the thousands. Try seeing that from our perspective.
How many crew are intending to stay for as long as they possibly can? Perhaps that is why we all took 2% this year with not much fuss. It is a longer term prospect for many of us. Some years you win, some you lose. Whatever the case we don't deserve to lose our jobs because the cc are willing to strike without properly thinking through the consequences.
One thing that stick in everyone's throat is sickness. If CC were a bit more moderate with their sickness then there would be an HUGE amount more in the pot to go around (for everyone) . Ok there are always some who are sick more than others but the average per head in CC is horrifying (much much higher than the national average). I know that it is an industry wide thing but why not change it. The CBI estimates £600 per day (total) cost to business for sickness. Work the figures out for yourselves. Perhaps an acceptance of the deal and some work to cut sickness, crew down etc would put you in a much stronger position. It is not that hard really. When you are ill you go sick and when you want a day off you take leave and when you are due into work and can't be bothered you do what the rest of the world does and grit your teeth and go in.
(Braces himself!) Ok then off you go ................