Willie's message:
From: Willie Walsh
To: All colleagues
I wanted to update you on the industrial relations situation, following Unite’s announcement 10 days ago that a majority of cabin crew had voted in favour of a strike.
At the outset, let me stress that our cabin crew are extremely professional, highly skilled and deserve everyone’s respect. Any form of bullying or intimidation toward crew will not be tolerated, just as we will not tolerate it toward our volunteers.
As you know, Unite has not as yet identified any specific dates for industrial action, though it must do so by March 15 and any action must start by March 22.
Talks continue
We continue to have talks with Unite and we want to resolve the issues
between us.
There seems to be a view in some quarters that, if it had not been for the strike vote, we would not have been taking part in these talks.
Nothing could be further from the truth. We have been talking to Unite for more than 12 months. If progress has been slow, that has been a consequence of the union’s unwillingness, or inability, to engage in the process seriously.
In the last 2.5 weeks of talks at the TUC, we have been able to sit down face to face with Unite for no more than 2.5 hours – because the union’s internal disagreements have left it unable to maintain a common position.
Changes have been judged fair and reasonable
Unite has repeatedly demanded that we reverse our modest changes to crew complements on flights from Heathrow. These changes - which the High Court has ruled were valid, reasonable and did not breach crews’ contracts – save our company around £60m a year. They have not reduced crew earnings at all.
At the TUC, Unite has again proposed reversing the changes – and finding £60m savings from elsewhere. They have not been clear on how these savings would be achieved – and I am not surprised. You cannot make equivalent savings without cutting basic pay and/or allowances for every crew member by around £1,500 to £2,500 a year
Unite knows this. It just doesn’t want to say so. More than 12 months after we started negotiations, it is still not serious about how we can reduce cabin crew costs to help make this airline competitive and ensure our long-term future.
On routes to Australia, for example, our cabin crew costs before the complement changes were 31 per cent higher than those of Qantas. Asia will be a massive growth market in the future. We are shutting ourselves out of Asia because our costs are too high.
So let me be clear. The changes we have made to onboard crew numbers are permanent. They will not be reversed by the threat of a strike. And they will not be reversed if a strike takes place.
I invited Unite last October to come up with ideas as to how we recruit new crew in the future. I want to have a discussion about that, but I reiterate: we are not moving current crew on to new terms and conditions.
So let me be clear again. If Unite proceeds to strike dates and then an actual strike, it will not soften our position. In fact, it will harden our position because we will be forced to seek additional savings to recoup the losses a strike will cause. And crew who take part in a strike, consciously inflicting damage on our business, will permanently lose eligibility for staff travel.
A strike will not ground this airline
But let there be no doubt. A strike will not ground this airline. We will have 1,000 volunteer crew trained by next week and we will continue training crew through the rest of this month and, if necessary, April and May. We have had nearly 6,000 volunteers in total, and the number is growing.
We will operate all British Airways’ flights from London City airport, including long-haul services to New York.
Seventy per cent of our Gatwick cabin crew have said they will work normally, so we will operate all our long-haul schedule at Gatwick, and about half of our short-haul schedule.
And at Heathrow, we will operate a substantial proportion of our long-haul programme and a good number of short-haul flights too, assisted by chartered aircraft with crews from a number of UK and European-based airlines. We have at least 23 aircraft available to us over an extended period.
We have also arranged to secure seats from other carriers, so thousands more of our customers can reach their chosen destinations.
At this stage our plans do not include crew at Heathrow who may choose to work normally. More than 4,000 crew did not vote for strike action.
Fantastic response from around the company
I want to pay the sincerest thanks to thousands of colleagues across our airline who have risen magnificently to the challenge we face – volunteering to work as crew, volunteering for vital support roles on the ground, working very long hours to re-draft rosters and schedules to underpin these robust contingency plans.
These plans will allow us to protect our customers’ travel arrangements better than many people imagined possible in the difficult conditions that a strike by the biggest section of our workforce is bound to cause.
Plans to protect our customers
Our customers have been fantastic in the way they have stood by us in recent weeks. Despite all the uncertainty Unite has created since it announced its ballot in January, passenger numbers for February were actually higher than a year ago – and our premium traffic rose for the first time in 18 months.
We want to help customers as much as we possibly can. Should a strike be called, we will offer rebook and refund opportunities – but every day we will transport tens of thousands of our customers to where they want to go.
I do not know what Unite will do in the coming days. If a strike comes, we are as prepared as we can be. I do not want a strike. The changes to crew complements are permanent, but it is not too late to talk about crew’s genuine concerns for the future.
It is time to move on. As a business, we must get our costs in shape so we can compete and grow in years ahead. That is the best way forward for everyone within British Airways. Let us embrace the future together and
succeed.
bassa - time for a reality check!