Willie Wash in Todays Times
I take this to be setting up the dismissal of the strikers (if you can run 100% of services why bother with the troublemakers?) unless BASSA agree fully now - what do others think?
-------------------
Willie Walsh wrote a column on the industrial relations situation in this morning’s Times.
In it, he spoke of his delight for our customers that the unjustified threat of a 20-day strike against British Airways was quashed by the High Court yesterday, before outlining his thoughts on the dispute itself.
"I am absolutely delighted for our customers that Unite’s extreme and completely unjustified threat of a 20-day strike against British Airways was quashed by the High Court yesterday. What would have been the longest strike at a major UK employer for a quarter of a century was an absurdly disproportionate response to the changes we are making to cabin crew operations as we strive to return to profitability.
Reprieve
"However, I am very conscious that the court has done no more than provide a reprieve. We still have to reach a resolution to this dispute. We have spent 15 months talking to Unite and its cabin crew branch, the British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association (Bassa), about the need to find more efficient ways of working. Almost a year ago we successfully concluded similar discussions with our pilots and engineers, and had already cut our manager numbers by a third.
"Our package for cabin crew is very fair, especially in view of the fact that we have lost hundreds of millions of pounds over the past two years in the worst recession the airline industry has known. We have met both the needs of our business and the genuine concerns of crew members."
Permanent savings
"In achieving permanent savings, we have carefully avoided compulsory redundancies. Instead, we have provided voluntary packages for those wanting to leave the company, allowed more crew to work part-time, and brought onboard crew numbers on flights from Heathrow into line with those at Gatwick. We have provided extra assurances that when we recruit new crew in the future, existing crew will have promotion opportunities and fair access to the most desirable routes.
"We have offered rises in basic pay in the coming two years that would be gratefully seized by many employees in other parts of the economy. And, uniquely among UK airlines, we continue to pay incremental salary rises to a large majority of crew. Under our proposals, existing crew will remain easily the best rewarded in the UK industry.
"We have provided an undertaking that there will be no victimisation arising from this dispute. And, to the annoyance of many thousands of our dedicated employees, we have offered to reinstate staff travel for cabin crew who went on strike in March.
"Over the weekend, Unite’s joint general secretary, Tony Woodley, described our offer as an “agreement in principle”. I respect Tony. But it has become abundantly clear that he and Unite’s co-leader Derek Simpson cannot deliver an agreement — because Bassa’s committee and shop stewards do not support them."
Ballot
"Bassa’s organisers do not accept there is any agreement in principle. In the face of Tony’s words, they have just issued a detailed criticism of our offer.
"Even if the 20-day strike had gone ahead, they were planning another ballot so they could continue disruption later in the year. They talk openly of a long “guerrilla campaign” designed to undermine customers’ faith in British Airways and inflict as much commercial damage as possible.
"This is an extraordinary position for a group of trade unionists to take. They positively relish the prospect of a prolonged attack on the customers and business that provide their members with well-rewarded jobs, generous pensions and enviable lifestyles. And they have no concern for the possible consequences of their campaign for thousands of members of Unite and other trade unionists employed in different parts of BA."
World has changed
"In other words, the obstacle to the resolution of this dispute is the refusal of this small group of Bassa hardliners to accept that the world has changed.
"To Bassa, we are still in the 1970s: British Airways is nationalised, facing little competition and ever ready to do a cosy deal with the unions knowing the taxpayer will pick up the tab.
"Nearly everything harmful about that culture has now disappeared at BA — apart from the legacy of a hard core of union activists who think they have a right to control day-to-day cabin crew operations.
"The Bassa reactionaries do not care about our customers, colleagues in other departments or even their own members. What they care about is preserving the appearance of their own importance. So Bassa cannot countenance a deal that involves permanent change. They cannot accept management’s duty to manage in the interests of our customers, all our employees and our shareholders.
"The Bassa tail is wagging the Unite dog. I urge Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson to assert their authority and address this situation. The vast bulk of their 20,000 members at BA urgently want them to do so. These include the thousands of regular cabin crew who ignored the strike calls in March and, if necessary, will do so again to help us to keep the airline flying.
"During the last strike, we flew more than 80 per cent of our customers. I am considering plans to raise that number towards 100 per cent should the need arise.I sincerely hope it does not. Unite’s leaders must act."