Standard Speeds,
I fully appreciate your concern, nobody at all wants to go on strike.....I mean it's just not a pleasant thing to have to do.
I am certainly not militant and hate the idea of going out, but I just feel now that things have gone too far, and we need to make a stand NOW for our future.
Yes we are gambling, however look how the cards are stacked in our favour:
1. The most obvious thing is that we cannot be replaced easily, so if TAG sacked us, where the hell would that leave them?
Ask yourself is that really a likely outcome.........what seriously will happen, delegate airspace to the MIL? Is it likely? How long before almost every UK airline goes out of business with the skies closed day after day?
2. Think of the financial implications for TAG if we went out........think of the amount of lost revenue, how long could they sustain those kind of gigantic losses?
3. Think of the airlines..........BA is losing money hand over fist.......how long could they sustain the grounding of the entire fleet?
4. The Govt, with its obligations under ICAO to provide services, especially over the Atlantic, how long could they politically allow us to be out, especially given the chaotic state of transport already?
I cannot seriously imagine that TAG will let us go out, if they do it will not take more than a day or two for the company to go belly up, and it will likely take a few UK airlines with it too.........
The risk to them is far greater than the risk to us..........the alternative is we accept this...make the Union look totally stupid and frankly we can kiss goodbye to ever getting a decent pay rise in the future. And to be honest we can forget about attracting capable people into the job in the future, because the pay 10 years from now will suck........where will we be then?
BEX as usual talking sense.........no disrespect at all to Cabin Crew, but what is easier to replace pilots, or cabin crew? BA knew that taking on the cabin crew would not cripple the airline (more than one union represent cabin crew if I remember correctly), but the pilots were a different proposition.
Think carefully how you are going to vote.......and remember the BEC have advised rejecting this offer.....that is not something they would have done lightly........what happens if we vote yes on this deal, the union's position becomes pretty much untenable, what then?
As far as I am concerned the worst future is represented by voting yes. By voting no, the short term may be worse, but the long term will certainly be much better.