I have resisted posting for a while, mainly because this is a very emotive issue, and the passion we all feel regarding our decisions can lead to things becoming a tad argumentative.
However as a CSS I will be working over the strike days, and have volunteered to help out where I can. I don't like the tone of SRB's letter but perhaps it was the kick we all needed. For far too long we have been told by Cabin Crew Management how fantastic we are - look at any copy of PTT, or correspondance from LM (who I happen to think has done quite a good job since she has been here - regardless of what you think of her, speak to her and she is very crew friendly - but her resources are not limitless). All of them contain some element of how great we are. We only need to look at x-plane or GAP results and in general we are on a downward spiral - look at the service brief sheets - on most routes we are below target. I am not necessarily saying that we are doing a bad job, far from it, but after years of being told how great we are, and that we are the reason people fly Virgin, perhaps a short sharp shock from SRB is called for. I have to say that some of the comments posted on here augment what many of our passengers believe - that they are an inconvenience to the crew.
016FSM - when you first starting posting on here I was a little dismayed at your thought process, but I think it shows real courage to look at things from both sides and make an INFORMED decision. I am really glad that you can see the bigger picture - no pay deal, regardless of company or industry, should be about a quick fix.
Virgin89 - as always a pleasure to read your balanced views, and its good to see someone who can reason maturely about the impending strike without mudslinging.
Monkeybusiness 2 - your post really saddens me, and it is that immature, selfish and misinformed attitude which has resulted in us being at this stage in industrial action. I am your colleague - I respect your right to strike, please do not hurl names around such as "scab" - it is disrespectful and achieves very little.
However as a last point, I would like to say that I am in no way interested in participating in said action. If there was a ballot to demand the resignation of the Union Reps and BB, then I know what I would be voting for. No-one can deny that the company met the requests of the Union - its just a shame that the Union had no knowledge of what the Crew actually wanted, and if I was a Rep, on a professional basis, as well as a personal basis, I would be mortified.
All of the above pales into insignificance when I think of the reasons I was employed - its my job to ensure that I maintain standards ensuring repeat business and that is what I intend to do. I am one of the very few who is actually very happy with my salary and conditions.
Good luck with whatever decisions you all make, but lets not bring this down to an even more base level.