Originally Posted by
PC767
The biggest problem with the ORP is just what causes its implementation. The other details are expected and willingly understood, however, should it be extreme winter weather or poor rostering which brings ORP into play? As I read the proposal only BA can decide that and no-one can object.
PC767, this post, and many others from the pro Bassa stance, suggest that any decision that BA decides it can take unilaterally is a potential opportunity to screw the cabin crew over. You suggest that BA shouldn't be able to decide when the ORP comes into force, but that Bassa should have a veto.
We, the company as a whole, have to get beyond this mind-set, and accept that it is BA's train set, they run the operation, they PAY for it, and are best placed to decide when the operation is so disrupted that we need to change our way of working for a short time. It's all about attitude.
As a pilot, we are expected to be flexible in the event of disruption, to go beyond industrial limits, and can, according to our agreement, be required to come to work on a day off. Taking your reasoning, that would mean that BA will decide on any flight on any day for any reason that I will be called into work and forced to work to maximum legal limits.
It doesn't happen.
BA have rewritten the ORP for two reasons:
1. Bassa at the moment have a veto over the current disruption plan. That means if Bassa are in a period of poor industrial relations they can on a whim decide to play hard ball, costing the company huge sums. (See this and last winter.) That cannot continue in the 21st century.
2. Bassa have refused to agree on the issue, forcing BA to introduce the new plan without cabin crew input. You can't keep agreeing to disagree for months, possibly years on end, the company MUST be able to run its own operation.
Bassa need to stop interpreting every 'What If' as an open door to take advantage its members, leaving the union as the only obstacle stopping BA from wholesale abuse of them. Show me any example where this has occurred to cabin crew in the past.
Working WITH the company to achieve mutually acceptable agreements is the only way ahead, since prosperity for BA means prosperity for us all.