Originally Posted by
PC767
Mr Bunker.
With such rigid views there can be no satisfactory solution for all. Rigidly there can be a solution but with a large portion of front line staff feeling resentment and loathing and that isn't a good point to start rebuilding BA back into viability.
This dispute will remain ongoing.
But, the rigidity which you feel provides such a stumbling block is in place because of an agreement between the unions and BA as to the conduct of disciplinary procedures, BA haven't changed the rules. Is it possible that some crew will have been dealt with over-zealously initially? Probably so, if not certainly so. If, heaven forbid, those innocent crewmembers are sanctioned then there are procedures of appeal in place already. As Eddy has said already, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a 3rd party review the extant and completed disciplinaries to ensure that they have been conducted in accordance with the procedures and policies agreed between the BATUC and the airline.
But that's not what Unite are asking for is it?
In fact the wiping clean of all the disciplinees' slates during this dispute is one of the 3 pillars of the next ballot according to the letter from the JGS at Unite that dropped onto the mat recently (for which, thanks, my wife's not in the union anymore - as an aside Unite might want to sort that before the ballot papers are sent out).
So it's not that I, or BA for that matter, are being rigid. Unite aren't asking for an independent assessment. They're asking for it all to be swept under the carpet, whether or not some of those crew do have a case to answer. That can't be acceptable to the majority of staff who work in BA as it shows that the disciplinary procedure in the airline is not a reliable and inviolate system, more a politically expedient tool that can be made to mean whatever it needs to be and that cannot be just.
MrB