BA and Project Columbus III

[wobble2plank]

Topbunk has hit the nail on the head with the last post.

BASSA has relied far too long on the mantra of 'no, now what's the question?' and it is now coming to hurt those that BASSA represents.

For years now many other groups within BA have warned the BASSA negotiating (?) team that their attitude towards negotiations was flawed. However, they pressed ahead and they won out. Time and time again. As a result they triumphed themselves against the other groups who took concessions and adjusted their T's & C's to fit the modern age. All this was fine until the crunch really hit. Now, through inadequate negotiation on YOUR BEHALF, BASSA has left you all hanging in mid air with, potentially, an awful long way to fall. Thus that necessary adjustment will be painful.

We saw this in the last mess of a CC ballot. 7 or 8 differing things to ballot over? From sickness procedure to ingrowing toenails? The vast majority of CC were poorly informed by BASSA as to their rights and legal stand point with respect to striking. There was little or no communication as to the fact that if BA resolved ONE item on the ballot list then the rest of the ballot would be null and void.

Now we get to the point where the company has the gloves off, they want to re-adjust BA CC wages and conditions in line with those throughout the world and the adjustment will be painful. If you want to compare this with the dispute over Open Skies then fine but take away one very salient point, BA won that dispute on very tenuous legal grounds but nevertheless they won and have the resources, still, to do so again. Instead of the normal BASSA stance they should be out canvassing their members, polling what would be the least painful path through this mess and negotiating as adults with the company.

Failure to do so will result in the activation of the compulsory redundancy plan that the company has in place already. The company is giving ALL DEPARTMENTS the chance to get their workplaces in order before the management come in and do it for them. Willie wants this done and dusted so that he can get the required funding in place for the coming bloody financial year. He won't be able to do that with industrial unrest hanging over the company and, to be honest, public opinion is definitely NOT on the side of a strike for 'cushy' working practices.

Time will, once again, tell.