It's always a concern when the closing para of a cover letter closes with "The actions of Unite in reaching agreement with the company may be unpopular....."
Not too sure what to make of this;
Basis Pay and Trip increments the same as last deal
It details the trip pay from April 2008 moving forward,
but not back pay trip pay from '07, we need this quantified.
Standby proposal of last deal is the same
New elements
Commitment to change way trip pay is paid, recognising length of duty periods.
Increase of crew down payments if sickness is reduced over a monitored period by 50%
Consultative structre - improving getting things sorted between employer and employer
Thoughts
To be honest I am not entirely sure, The new components are good news, the crew down increments as an incentive to reduce sicnkess are also a step in the right direction, however I think 50% seems a bit of a hefty starting target, I think there is no way it will be achieved (probably why it was agreed), slowly slowly catchy monkey reduce by 25% would of been a better more realistic starting block.
Needs to exclude genuine sickness covered by a doctors note too.
I note this too, "
The monthly standby arrangements to be reviewed by the Unite/Virgin Atlantic Airways Joint Review Group."
I suppose that means standby blocks can be increased and/or decreased without our vote.