as i understand the role of a union, it is to represent all its members and to get the best deal for them.
regardless of how/why it was done, BASSA got a mandate not to negotiate from its members. so they have not done anything wrong by refusing to negotiate and by calling a strike, in accordance with the members wishes. they got 64% of all members to vote for a strike(80% of 80%) and called it.
as i see it,if i view this from a union members point of view, if you are 1 of the 36% who voted no, or did not vote, then you are still bound by the rules of the union to follow the majority and strike.if you choose not to, then i feel that you have no other option than to resign from the union. that is the only honest decision that you can make.
of the 64% who voted yes, and then went against their views and went to work, you should also resign from the union, as you clearly have no sense of right and wrong nor honour.
if you are part of the 64% who voted yes, and went on strike, then good luck to you for making your most courageous decision and being prepared to back it up when called on.
that only leaves those members, who were no doubt part of the 64%, who were not rostered and attended the football club "to support their comrades" and then went to work for whatever reason on other strike days;you should be so ashamed of yourselves and should at the very least resign from the union, and should reflect on their choice as i would not care to work with someone so two faced under any circumstances.
having said all that, i feel that the majority of cabin crew, partly due to the way they have been brain-washed by BASSA over the years, have never truly been in a position to understand what has been happening on their behalf -the "ballot" at the football ground being the classic example, as well as their refusal to read messages from BA because BASSA told them they didn't need to read BA's lies - and so must shoulder most of the blame for where they are now.
the BASSA committee should also shoulder a large % of the blame for continuing to put their own interests before that of their members. the fact that very few, if any, were actually physically "on-strike" i.e, in a position where they lost wages or staff travel is to me repugnant. all 55 committee members should have told BA that they were unavailable for work on day1 of the strike, whether they were suspended/sick/unrostered, and led from the front. the fact they did not should, i feel, be the subject of an emergency general meeting demanding they stand down and seek re-election.
from my personal point of view, i admire the staff that made a stand early, and backed BA, as i feel that was the trigger for those no voters and those that subsequently changed their minds to rally to the BA cause. without the few who had the courage to stand up initially this could have degenerated into an even worse mess than it is now.
i feel that BA have, right from the start, offered a fair deal to the cabin crew, and if the CSD's (BASSA committee??)had not refused to demean themselves by doing a bit of work this could have been settled at a very early stage last year.
how do i see this ending;
BA are still training volunteers so in the event of another strike being called then i would expect BA to run nearly a 100% operation. if a strike is called, supposedly for an indefinite period, then i would expect BA to roster the volunteers for the forseeable future and, as promised by Mr Francis, anyone choosing to return to work after taking part in the next strike could find that they have to wait a fair amount of time before they got rostered, and i would be willing to bet that they would not get any of the "plum" routes for a long while.i think this is when the 90 day notice period will kick in, and so i would be very wary about taking part in the next strike call.
this has been a complete disaster for the union and its members, and it was/is the wrong fight at the wrong time and for the wrong reason.
my opinion on why this has come about; ms malone and her committee could not bring themselves to go back on the trolley.
i am SLF who uses BA when i can, and have nothing to do with any union