Ottergirl asks "Who to blame?"
Simple. Anyone but the leadership of the union, BASSA.
Anyone but those who thought that they could simply ignore what the rest of the company was doing and somehow tough it out.
Anyone but those who were merely fighting for what THEY were set to lose, and not their membership.
Anyone but those who could not engage with the company and find mutually acceptable terms, but just had to say no.
Anyone but those who have refused to share ANY details of the offers made by the company as it would not suit their own agenda.
Anyone but those who had so much disdain for their membership, and possessed such arrogance that they would refuse to poll their membership on what THE MEMBERSHIP were prepared to move on, and use that to influence their negotiating position.
Therefore, it is all the fault of the pilots. Oh yes, and the ground-staff volunteers. Oh, and the s-words, and the management. Quite obvious, really.
I still have access to the BASSA forum, until they get round to processing my partners resignation. It is one fundamentally sad place; there is no analysis, no contrary opinion is allowed, there is no serious questioning of the actions of the union hierarchy, since any post that appears to stray from the groupthink is shouted straight down, with such phrases as "Bye, bye, have a nice life" to quote the most recent one I read.
The sad thing is that no-one on there realises how it suits the agenda of the union to have created such a place. There is even a thread there thanking the person who has single-handedly lied and obfuscated his way through the dispute for all his "great work" and wanting him to be given a permanent role as secretary. They can't even see through his own posts; when someone challenged him about his claim that "pilots" had said they would "refuse" to support Willie Walsh if he gave back staff travel only one person dared to tiptoe a query against him, and was shouted down, even though he was forced to admit it was merely hearsay. No further debate on his lies, and yes, they are lies have been brooked, even though this gentleman is leading people into a scenario where they could lose their jobs.
The word is lied, by the way. NOT "been economical with the truth" or "was merely reporting from a trusted source." Lied. Deliberately lied to paint one staff group against another. And the thing is, he know it too, but still accepts all the praise and plaudits. Special kind of a person, that is. And that is the type of person leading the BASSA branch of UNITE.
It is truly sad. Reargunner, who posts on here and has earned respect by engaging articulately and directly is actually one of the more balanced voices on the BASSA site, but still follows the group-think over there, as to do otherwise will lead to a feeding-frenzy. Suppose it is adapt and survive, but fair play to Reargunner.