Firstly, just to say that I am a BA crew member, with a couple of good friends who work for VS.
My opinion is that going through this situation is very stressful for all concerned. C.crew by nature are not necessarily militant/communist/Scargill loving people, & do not undertake going to a possible strike/industrial action lightly.
It
will get worse before it gets better. There will be rumours of what the management will do if a strike goes ahead,eg suspending strikers, cancelling services & the company going bust. Personally, I very much doubt any of this will happen & is scaremongering. But it is undoubtedly
very scary & convincing, especially if you haven't been through a strike before.
Don't count on too much support from other depts, Selfishness will soon see that off. You will be in this alone, but
only you can fight for
your terms & conditions. The press will attempt to crucify you. The same old cliche's about trolleydollies lazing around on a beach while the poor old nurses are still underpaid will probably be peddalled out.
It seems from reading through this thread that sadly,there is already a split growing from your community, eg the FSM's seem to think its a good deal & vote yes, whilst the junior crew members disagree. The deal does look quite loaded in favour of the senior ranks, I think. This split will grow,just when unity is most needed.
Try not to get side-tracked into various hypothetical issues. Keep focussed on the real issues.
You will get told that this is the "final final final offer", which will be withdrawn if not accepted. Remember this is a simple negotiation tactic. A deal will be done, & probably with about one minute to go before the deadline. Its one big game of brinkmanship. You won't get 100% of your wishlist, but stand firm & united & hopefully you will get a reasonable outcome for all crew & your customers.
All the best.
