What are you suggesting? That everyone who have backed BA are holding them ransom? Staff Travel may be a non-contractual benefit but that's no reason for them to remove it for participating in a lawful industrial action. It's punishment. It's vindictive. It's discriminatory. As much as I would love to see the case appear in the European Courts and Willie Walsh being humiliated publicly over his mistake, I cannot wait years until it appears in court. I think I have earned it as everyone else in this company.
Unfortunately, as BASSA will have adequately informed you prior to making your strike decision, the employment laws protect you for taking industrial action ONLY against unfair dismissal. If the company removed or restricted access to contractual faculties then you would have a case.
As ST is not contractual and is a perk it cannot be victimisation. If the case is as dramatic as you make out then surely Unite or BASSA would have had it up in court by now? No? Wonder why.
If it is so important to you personally then I would suggest that supporting the ill advised action (ill advised even by Unite!) should have been thought through a little better.
As to the pensions negotiations, I have been informed that ALL departments apart from the Cabin Crew were balloted for their opinions over the pensions changes. The Unite CC members were 'overlooked'. So it seems that imposition comes not only from the company for the CC but also their own Union.
BASSA portray BA as being the big, bad non negotiator. Where were the illustrious BASSA team when the time for negotiations were upon us? Outside in the car park brawling or crying at the feet of the Unite council trying to have their peers thrown out for trying to do a deal for their members.
There are NO guarantees in life, no permanent agreements, in any company the 'guarantees' only reach to the next review. The skill in maintaining an acceptable level of terms and conditions is effective negotiation. Something that BASSA have never, ever achieved.
Because you are doing no good to this company, or your own career, by allowing yourself to support a management which is training people to cover a lawful industrial action.
The problem here is that the vast majority of other employees do not see this as legitimate industrial action. Lawful in the eyes of the employment laws maybe, legitimate? Certainly not. BASSA refused point blank to accept the companies position when ALL other departments could see and accept it. If the company had been raking money in as BASSA wished it to be so then the support for IA might have been different. The company wasn't and isn't. The CC have enjoyed elevated T's & C's for too many years now and demanded that other departments make the savings. Now your time has come and everyone else is in the wrong except BASSA.
Management has been bloating to the media with heavily exaggerated figures on our salaries and compared us to Virgin Atlantic and mistakingly forgot, I should imagine (?), to include their allowances which are paid downroute. They have compared our salaries to those of LCCs when we are a premium airline with a different clientele.
The original figures came from the CAA, not the management. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story!
I hope you enjoy your commute.