Good Morning LHR747, today you get a whole point by point rebuttal from me so you can cascade it back up the management chain!
It is interesting to note that the vast majority of members appear to be at odds with the stated intention of their trade union.
No, they are not.
BALPA’s General Secretary has stated quite unequivocally that the strike ballot is “not about money; and it is not about safety”. This is quite clearly not the opinion of the vast majority of the Union’s own members.
Yes it is. The strike ballot is about BA breaching the intent of Schedule K. It's not about money, it's not about safety and it's not about respect. It's about the intent of Schedule K and everybody except the management is very clear about that.
How might you ask has this disconnect between the Trade union and its members arisen?
I might not ask as clearly the disconnect is between managers and their staff, not the union and their members. 13 pilots attended the Flight Ops forum, 300+ went to the BALPA one. Who has the disconnect?
BALPA’s General Secretary issued the following two statements. The first on 9th January where he stated that BA’s “pilots do not want to see its brand or its safety record put at risk” and then on 21 January “BA’s real aim…will eventually force down BA pilot conditions”. So there you have it, the problem is solved.
Frankly I can't disagree with either of those statements, the latter of which is entirely true. However you seem unable to make the distinction between cause and effect. The effect will be to force down BA conditions. The cause is the failure of BA to review Schedule K. Not being versed in the black arts of BA management I much prefer to treat the cause rather than firefight the effect. Thats why we are balloting over schedule K.
The General Secretary’s muddle headed response to his own statements.
Nobodys perfect, not even you. The GS is a figurehead there to rally the troops and provide moral support. The strike is led by the BACC and that's who we follow.
This does however leave BALPA’s members in a rather invidious position. Each of BA’s pilots pays between £400 and £1000 per year in union dues.For this they clearly deserve better from their leadership if they are to confront their employer in the crudest manner possible, namely, by withdrawing their labour.
I lose more than that to BA each year in lateness credit and yet am presented with no leadership whatsoever from our management. I'll stick to BALPA any day. Now if you want to avoid a crude confrontation then the door to the negotiating room is still open. Perhaps you should ask your crude managers why they don't wish to negotiate any more?
Regards
PS Ref MrBunkers previous post, it could well be NP, but also I've seen 'Jonerators ON' posting at the same time as LHR747. Wouldn't take a great leap of the imagination to think that they've set up a single profile and there is a duty management stooge each day. It's just a pity they can't find a competent one.