Opinion piece from Graham Robertson:
British Airways crew dig the hole even deeper
By Graham Robertson
Its hard to look anywhere these days without hearing about the British Airways strike. I was very reluctant to write yet another post about something that’s been covered to death in both mainstream media as well as in the blogesphere, but now that the strike as been called off I feel I can add my two cents.
So what caused the flight crew to walk off the job over Christmas? Mainly, BA’s proposal to cut one staff per flight and freeze pay for two years. To be totally honest, I don’t think even that would be enough to stop the bleeding - BA lost £401m last year and it looks like it’s only going to get worse.
My first reaction to this was disappointment. Those of us that actually work in the travel industry have been through one of the worst years anyone can remember. We’ve all made sacrifices, we’ve all taken on more work than we thought we could handle and we did it happily because we had faith in our organizations as well as our industry to rebound. It will be very sad if these unions have destroyed BA’s chance to recover in 2010. There has already been murmurings that the strike may only have been postponed, further damaging consumer trust with the vague threat of a strike still looming.
I am all for employee rights and it’s never a good thing when someone loses their job, but sometimes these things cannot be avoided. Hopefully BA can get through this without any lasting effects; if not they will join the ranks of the many other UK airlines to go bust this year.
And one from Greg Hunt:
Tampa, Florida - A little winter sun was being spoiled by the possibility of having to deal with the mayhem caused by the planned 12 day British Airways (BA) cabin crew strike.
I believe a public service organisation, such as an airline, taking action at one of the major holiday periods of the year is nothing short of disgusting. And, anyone who takes part in such an action should lose their job - not that I have strong feelings.
Designed to pile pressure on management of the airline, the only losers would have been the one million stranded customers - but it could also bring the airline down.
Gordon Brown’s government would not allow BA to buckle under the pressure as it would trumpet an avalanche of similar actions.
The main arguments behind this strike action for the union members is a pay freeze and the reduction of one crew member on long haul flights - from fifteen to fourteen.
My only question - is the union complaining because the crew reduction would put passengers in danger, or does it mean that cabin crew would have to work harder?
If it’s the latter, well boo hoo! Now suck it up and get on with your job, at least you have one. If it is the former and it can be proved the airline management will have no other option than to acquiesce - which they haven’t.
You should also know that BA cabin crew, according to British Civil Aviation Authority figures earn, based on average total pay, twice as much as Virgin crew and more than £9,000 per year more than the next closest airline crew. Seems they could have afforded a 12 day unpaid holiday/strike. And, maybe that financial comfort is part of the problem. Conversely, BA is already facing some poor financials and the loss of £300 million revenue would certainly not have helped.
No employee is indispensable and every company is vulnerable. A 12 day strike is the sort of action that can cause irreparable damage to a company and anyone that cannot see that probably has the ego of a person who heads a large union.
Unite union leaders, Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, would have you believe that strike action is the last option in their arsenal and nothing to do with the media attention they get.
Even after admitting that the proposed strike action is, “probably over the top”, they expect you to believe they have exhausted all avenues for discussion and that it was pure bad luck that a strike was scheduled for the most inconvenient time of the year.
Well, they have already been proved cheats by the High Court. The strike ballot was illegal and therefore so is the strike.
Maybe they are scumbag liars too.
Well, I won’t be in Florida longer than expected, but my view would still be let the strike go ahead and even let the airline collapse.
Let the 92 per cent of union members who voted for strike action join the ranks of the unemployed. I can always fly with another airline; let’s see how unemployment pay compares to having to do with one less crew member on a long haul flight. With the existing £3.7 billion deficit in the BA pension fund they may also find themselves stacking tins of chicken or fish on supermarket shelves in their retirement. Be careful what you wish (or vote) for.