Staff travel and discrimination
I had been reading this thread for a while with a lot of interest, this is my first post.
I would like to point out that according to ART 28 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, strike is a RIGHT! I do not see how a European Corporation like BA can include in a hypothetical new contract a no-strike clause, as stated previously in this forum.
About staff travel, yes I was informed by BA of the loss of ST for participating to a legal strike but according to the International Labour Organization, a United Nations agency:
• No one should be penalized for carrying out or attempting to
carry out a legitimate strike (ibid., para. 590);
Yes, staff travel might not be contractual but removing this benefit which is enjoyed by ALL BA employee ONLY to striking cabin crew is a clear discriminatory act.
The main reason why most of my colleagues went to work was not to keep the flag flying but to KEEP the STAFF TRAVEL. As the company well knows, the majority of us use ST not to go on exotic holidays but as a mean of transportation to go to work: I call this blackmailing.
It will probably take a few years, but we will fight this injustice up to the European Court of Justice. Meanwhile Easyjet and Ryanair, although not flexible are quite cheap....
According to Mr Walsh, striking cabin crew are not loyal employees and do not deserve this benefit enjoyed by every single BA employee: never mind years of no sickness, no lateness, professionalism, passion about this beautiful profession, letters of compliments from passengers (and I am talking for the majority of my colleagues who joined me on the strike).
BA used to be a lovely place to work: unfortunately the culture had been dramatically changed from the top. I only see fear of expressing opinions, suspects, divisions... Divide et impera (divide and conquer ).
PS Sorry for the syntactic mistakes but English is not my first language.