You say you are a friend of JF and you show no vindictiveness. Apologies for misinterpretting some of your recent comments..........
"a General Secretary who knows b all about running a Union, and who doesn't stay for meetings"
"JF has many talents but attending meetings until they finish is not one of them - he is always sloping off early from cc meetings; goes with living abroad I presume."
I don't think the above type of comments accurately reflect your desire for a "balanced discussion" as they are of a more personal nature. If we keep to the facts of the matter rather than personal judgements(like the irrelevance of where one lives) then a balanced discussion will naturely ensue.
As for "The T&Cs at EOG and the rest of BA for that matter are nothing to do with CD".......Sorry I thought he was the General Secretary of BALPA who I donate 1% of my career earnings(roughly 100K/year in his pocket)and who have failed continuely to protect our T&C's. I have also covered this in my previous post(sorry for repeat).....
"Yes but is the General Secretary to Blame ?
Many people have stated that one cannot blame Chris Darke(CD) personally for the degradation of UK Pilots pay and conditions over the past 10years(the fact that degradation has occurred is generally not in any doubt) and why should we need to elect someone else. I agree it is not desired or credible to try to appropriate blame to any one individual in BALPA to our degrading T&C's, but as established in the role of GS, surely he is the person "ultimately responsible". The only thing possibly questionable is how he has managed to secure a 45% pay rise between 96-00 whilst the pilots T&C's he is enrolled to protect continue to lose ground whilst increasing productivity. Blame for blames sake is not constructive, but weeding out weakness is. With the coincidental timing of the G.S.'s re-election it is wholly appropriate to examine the past 10years of his leadership and examine whether we are happy with his results or whether other suitable candidates should be considered. "
As for "If you don't like the way that your reps are handling matters then why don't you stand for election and try and make a difference. "
This is a comment you often hear from people if you dare mention dissatisfaction with BALPA and is in fact misleading as it ignores the fact that we have already made a difference by exercising our democratic rights by electing those creditable individuals who have volunteered for the job and share our outlook. I don't have to run for Prime Minister just to get my opinions as a citizen expressed do I?
Besides I have NEVER stated that I don't like the way that your reps are handling matters in my previous posts.......
"It is important to mention that the following is not meant to in anyway to reflect negatively on the hard work and daily achievements of our local council BALPA reps who do a tremendous job with little thanks, but rather to examine the effectiveness of the higher echelons of our union."
and
"I'll pre-empt the..."but we are BALPA, and it is up to us". Yes this is very true, and this is why we have elected people to represent our wishes"
I have not felt the need in the past to run as there has usually been more than enough respected pilots to choose from in the elections. I believe as previously stated the problem lies in the top of our union not at the CC level. Recent "Fearful" comments(admittedly not verified as they were not made to me directly) about the union have been attributed to both the Chairman and Vice-chairman. It is under their guidance and leadership that our reps operate, and the present Guiding Principle of Fear that dominates our reps as they carry out their duties will only change with a change of Leadership.
Airrage.
Always happy to have a 'balanced discussion.'
Last edited by airrage; 6th Apr 2002 at 12:36.