"New Balls Please...."
Tiramisu,
I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Bunker, you are a credit to the company and a breath of fresh air in a debate that can sometimes (for understandable reasons) get a little heated.
I don't expect you to sign away your terms & conditions and welcome your willingness to work a little harder/more efficiently to keep BA afloat. I think you understand you would have at least SOME control over any potential changes through meaningful discussion, negotiation and ultimately agreement.
No one likes uncertainty, but sensible negotiation (a 2-way street) would surely go some way to offsetting that uncertainty and handing the CC some say in their future.
It is my firm belief that the CC union could have easily made 100% of the cost savings target through updating SOME (not all) working practices, working a bit harder, signing a FAIR disruption agreement and NOT taking home a penny less next year.
In fact, a canny negotiator could probably work out how much the Company averagely spends each year on CC related disruption, in millions, and argue to have it taken off the cost savings target by signing a sensible disruption agreement.
Every day I come into work and fly my standard 3 sector day, sometimes 2, sometimes 4, at least one entire crew we fly with are only doing 1 sector then going home/to hotel. If you agreed to work a more efficient roster the savings would be ENORMOUS. You could actually agree to be more efficient when at work and negotiate more days off as a result with no loss of pay.
Why not start a new union?
You seem very sensible, pragmatic, logical, you clearly love your job and are intelligent enough to investigate/research the whole picture - I know you're not alone, in fact I believe there a MASSES of like-minded, ably-gifted CC members who would join you and a valid, free-thinking, free-speaking union. Transparency & honesty is the name of the game.
CC can not honestly hand-on-heart think their union have done them any favours, and it's obvious that they've done no favours to the company, British Airways, who pays all our wages and decides our futures and pensions, whose failures are ultimately carried by the staff.
What BASSA have done:
-refusing to look at the financial books
-denying the recession
-not consulting the electorate on proposed changes
-not admitting the need for change
-refusing to negotiate with the company
-disseminated clearly false information to its members
-negligently allowing crew to believe they will STILL get paid in a strike
-GROSSLY negligently assuring them they CANNOT get fired during a strike
-not educating the members about S.O.S.R....the thing that allows BA, (from any point now on) to send any crew members (i.e. all CSDs if they like) a '90 day letter of termination' whenever it feels like it. Look it up. The only reason it hasn't is because it hasn't been provoked enough yet to justify such draconian measures...something tells me the ogre is starting to get riled (court, strike etc)
-lying to the members about the pilot's paydeal, pilots vr party, WW trying to position BA as a lowcost carrier (?!) etc, etc,
-withholding clearly true/valid information that would allow crew to formulate a rounded and informed opinion on matters
-offering a pay-cut that was not voted for or wanted by cabin crew (or BA!)
the list goes on, I mean, how they expect not to be sued by the members for gross misconduct I don't know.
I'm sorry to go on but the list does.....go on...and on....and on
("finally! ....a point!")
Tiramisu
.....can you not lead your colleagues and comrades to a better, more secure future, or do you, as so many others clearly do, fear for what I imagine is the very real threat of verbal/physical/social intimidation/abuse for questioning the unquestionable? Or are things just fine the way they are? I mean, doesn't the 100% show of agreeing, unquestioning, unwavering hands to ANYTHING ever voted for at Sanddowne/wherever not ring any alarm bells? Please...?