Thank you for a balanced post Shaka. I agree with the vast majority of what you have written. In particular with reference to our top heavy management structure. (Simon Talling Smiths plan was for 1 Purser manager per 15 Pursers. Times this by the 3000 or so Pursers in BA and it would have been a financial disaster had it ever come to fruition.) However the recruitment deed has been done and I would now not like to see another made redundant to save my hide. Simplifying the management structure and utilising the CSD in a mangement role would benefit the budget. Cabin crew managers, in particular Purser managers, duplicate the role of the CSD in any case and this would be a return to a system which worked well.
On a side note here, the majority of cabin crew managers are actually not managers within the BA scheme. They are employed on administrators pay grades (APPG) rather than the management (MG) pay grades. This does not lessen their authority but does rather skew the figures when Walsh talks of a cull of 1/3 of his managers.
Finally. BASSA does have reps who are new contract, a figure which increased after the last elections. I trust they will ensure balance is preserved between old and new in a final settlement.