...as a result the company gets its cards marked by the public as very union driven and volatile. Watch the business crumble over time.
The business is already crumbling, mainly due to the company having had it's cards marked for a while. The travelling public may not give a damn but we do. We are tied to BA for the next however many years. The board and leadership team are not and we are not going to let them get away with destroying the company and our livelihoods and then simply moving on.
Willie Walsh was quoted in one of the broadsheets at the weekend acknowledging that BA had chosen the wrong strategy of cost-cutting rather than actively seeking mergers (maybe someone can provide a link). As a result of this error, they now feel it is a good time to try to make up for it from the employees - and they've started with those who have most to lose and who are most likely to defend their lot.
I am hopeful that this will see significant changes at the top of the company and we can get back to where we belong. If
any of the present Leadership Team remain in place after the inevitable blood letting which will follow a strike, their lack of credibility is highly likely to mean that the goodwill which the pilots have shown over the past few years by going the extra mile to make up for the shortfall in service caused by the excessive cost-cutting will be lost.
It didn't have to be this way.