The latest rubbish from BASSA
The delicate sound of gently falling boots....
As we prepared for the potential dispute in December, one of our
newsletters contained a poignant poem. To save you having to search for it
we repeat it again for your reference below...
Inscribed at the New England Holocaust Memorial
First they came for the Communists,
Why should I speak up for I wasn't a Communist?
I remained silent
Then they came for the Jews,
And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
I remained silent
Then they came for the trade unionists,
And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
I remained silent
Then they came for the Catholics,
And I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
I remained silent
Then they came for me,
.. There was no one left to speak out for me.
"First they came... " is a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller
(1892-1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals to speak out
following the right wing political rise to power and the purging of any
opposition to their way of thinking during the late 1930's.
At the time we felt it apt, and more importantly, extremely relevant to
the circumstances we faced. Obviously it was in reference to far, far
bigger historical events but the sentiments, so simply and beautifully
expressed, are timeless.
Many people understood the comparison. Others felt that the employer that
they trust would never behave in such a way and that this comparison was
unhelpful.
Two months later, perhaps it is time for them to revise that opinion.
Any individual "voicing" of opposition to British Airways plans are now
being routinely and ruthlessly targeted.
Seven CSDS and other crew have or are being disciplined for discussing
crewing level problems with passengers.
Three crew face the same fate for the same "crime" of discussing it during
their SEP at Cranebank, or on the now defunct BA forum.
Twenty crew have been summarily suspended for discussions in their own
time on Facebook.
All face gross misconduct charges.
Anonymous "heavies" arrived at our branch secretary's doors late at night
delivering forty seven pages of legal threat in an attempt to force Unite
to reveal the names of a further 32 people who post on the BASSA forum.
The BASSA branch secretary, Duncan Holley, faces dismissal for gross
misconduct for carrying out union duties. But worse, the company have yet
to hear his pre-existing grievance for this very issue.
Blair Veakins, Amicus section Convenor, though currently sick faces
potential gross misconduct charges for his absence.
Lizanne Malone, BASSA chairman, Duncan Holley, BASSA Branch secretary,
Nigel Stott, BASSA Worldwide Convenor and Mark Everard, member of the
BASSA branch committee, all had confidential details of their employment
"leaked" to the Daily Mail in an attempt to discredit them and cause them
distress and intimidation.
A further six BASSA branch committee members Marcel Devereux, Chris
Harrison, Sean Beatty, Lizanne Malone, Nigel Stott and Adrian Smith have
also been threatened.
These are troubling times. We face a concerted and determined effort to
not only break your union, but more importantly to intimidate and break
you.
This is being carried out right before your eyes and right under your
noses. Some people are simply turning a blind eye to it.
Any "opposition" no matter how minor has been targeted in an attempt to
silence it. Threats and intimidation are being routinely used to suppress
your freedom of expression.
The press are being used to portrait a grossly distorted picture of a
community. Mobs have been actively and implicitly encouraged to form and
vent their ill informed anger. Messages of hatred have allowed to be
scrawled across walls. Individuals within, and the cabin crew community as
a whole, have been characterised and demonised as a "scapegoat" - to
divert attention from the true source of responsibility for all current
ills.
What will be next? Burning piles of Unite newsletters in the streets of
waterside? Shaving the heads of strikers?
Our issues and complaints are legitimate. Our actions and challenges are
legal and our cause is just - yet we remain demonised by the public at
large. Even in the eyes of many of our own colleagues, (some of whom have
been deliberately whipped up into a state of hysteria), sadly, many seem
to actually be enjoying it. They seem oblivious to the fact that when
their turn comes, and it will, they will be on their own. Nobody will lend
them a helping hand.
Our message to them is simple, GO AHEAD VOLUNTEER TO do our work. Write
your poisonous messages of hatred. Set up your fifth column union and
revel in trying to break the strike and hearts of your friends and
colleagues. In the end it will only serve to hasten their own demise, for
they WILL be next.
The echoes of the past are never as far away as we think. Pasteur Martin
Niemöller's words were a caution to future generations, whom in completely
different circumstances may find that history can easily repeat itself. It
draws a simple a lesson - Sitting back is not the easy option, but
sometimes only hindsight allows us to see that.
The fate of us all is inextricably linked. Obviously we make no comparison
in terms of historical significance, only in terms human behaviour.
It takes courage to speak out, but that is a courage we must continue to
find, and we will, but you can't leave it to others. We all need you to
lend your strength or we will fall and be left to lie in a bed of our own
making.
"All that is required for evil to prevail, is that good men, sit back and
do nothing" Edmond Burke 1770