A blank piece of paper should be agreed by both sides and a reasonable time limit set. All existing terms and conditions should be parked and new ideas brought to the table. A simplistic idea, but if it was me, that is what I would push for now.
The problem with that idea is that WW believes, and from the evidence available I would agree, that he has made, starting with the savings required to be found, very reasonable propositions already. He can hardly allow all this pain and cost to be seen to lead to an improved offer to the CC i.e. the threat of and an actual strike by CC has worked.....yet again.
At the deadline last June on the table from BA to meet the required savings was:
- New manning levels
- New disruption agreement
- Some reduced nightstops
- NO NEW FLEET
Note that no pay cuts and no new fleet was on the table. WW was happy that the savings would be met and he was not broadly bothered how and where the savings came from.
Compare to the last offer immediately prior to the strike. Is anybody taking money on what the eventual settlement will be, better or worse than what has previously been offered by BA?
Clearly the strike IS having an effect but from my observations it has been far from a raging success for Unite and if it turns into a war of attrition Unite are not starting from a position of great strength, the lack of truth in many of their allegations seems to confirm that.