Some thoughts from BA ground staff.
The major issue BA staff, apart from Flight Ops, is the permanent nature of change. Perhaps this is why.
Dear Members
A quick word from our talks. We have not got anywhere yet. The battle is still on the Terms and Conditions which as per your strong mandate at the mass meeting are non-negotiable.
This said, you have heard about two of our communities reaching a deal with BA recently via the intranet. The first community is Engineering and the second community are the Pilots.
The Engineering deal was mainly about the amalgamation of two work areas without any impact on terms and conditions. The pilot deal is similar to the engineers in that it does not affect terms and conditions. Traditionally you only got to hear that our flying colleagues have settled but the fine prints were always a closely guarded affair. Not this time.
In view of our incessant demand for openness and transparency and in view of our demand for a shared pain from everyone at BA during this crisis we are in possession of those fine prints and as responsible representatives take at heart your right to be informed as to whether the pain is proportionately applied.
The document, we are glad to announce is not subject to any confidentiality clause otherwise it would have been written all over it and it was found laying around a hotel lobby. So our hope is nobody will be offended. They should not be because it is a damn good deal. This is not a pilot bashing session by the way as they do a very valued and respected job. In fact, pilots’ negotiators have to be applauded for achieving this sort of a deal given the current circumstances. However this is now going to be the benchmark for the rest of us as we all do valued and respected jobs for a valued employer.
The document starts off by acknowledging that “the deepening recession is having a serious impact on BA’s business and the company must respond to its financial position”. “The company will continue to monitor economic and trading conditions, and in the event of any material changes may seek further discussions”. The last sentence is code for temporary solutions in case things improve.
Pay and Productivity Target
“To maintain the overall annual pilot pay bill at its current level (for the financial year ending 31 March 2009) during period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2011, subject to adjustments in flying volumes”.
What is a pilot’s pay made of?
Long haul Captain +16 year’s service with a basic salary of £116,680
NAPS pensionable salary of £110,205; and an annual increment due on 1 December 2009. The annual increment is £3,471 on basic salary and £3,278 on pensionable salary.
Basic salary: This would be reduced from £116,680 to £113,635 from 1 October 2009 but would be increased to £117,015 from1 December 2009 to reflect annual increment;
Pensionable salary: This would remain unchanged at £110,205 from 1 October 2009 but would increase to £113,483 from 1 December 2009 to reflect annual increment.
Furthermore, all pilots employed on June 2011 will be granted the right to receive a number of “free” shares based on the company share price on that date subject to pre-grant performance conditions having been met
Two further awards will be made on June 2012 and June 2013 subject to the pre-grant performance conditions (explained below).
What does it all mean?
Number of shares available for grant = 6.8/£1.80 = 3,777,777 shares with a value of £13,000,000.
Shares available for Captains 2,153,333 (57%)
Shares available for Co-pilots 1,624,444 (43%)
Number of Captains in scheme 1,600
Number of Co-pilots in scheme 1,600
Shares granted for each Captain 1,346
Shares granted for each Co-pilot 1,015
Value of shares at vest date will depend on share price at the time, so there is potential for grant to grow in value.
We also learn through the document that two key indicators to get the shares will depend on “think customers” and “ready to go” targets that ground staff and other customer facing staff achieve. If we miss any of those targets the cash made available is reduced by 25%. The company motto is “To Fly To Serve”; not We Serve They fly or to be more precise; We Serve, They Earn, we should all earn.
Another target to determine the level of share issue is the Operating Marging. The threshold target is 6% where 60% of the shares above are allocated, 7% = 70%, 8% = 80%, 9% = 90%, 10% = 100%.
Before we forget, pilots’ contribution to head count reduction came to 66.42 heads, compared to our 1000. BA will also “take all reasonable steps to manage this surplus using voluntary rather than compulsory measures.
Again absolute bravo to BALPA. However as we are all part of One Team, it is only fair that BA builds a stake-holding future with all its employees, not just some. We also salute BA’s approach here as it firmly shows that this airline has future potential and this is the kind of information that should find its way in the newspapers. Not all of the damaging news that are being drip fed in order to sap the morale of all those hard working women and men of the “world’s favourite’s airline”.
Yours in solidarity
On Behalf Of The A-scale NSP Subgroup