It appears Bassa still has a lot to say.
BASSA - Latest News "BILL’S WORLD" Oct 4th, 2010 by admin
“Bill’s world”... Time for a party? Excellent!
...Errmmm, well maybe not quite.
Unfortunately, unlike the 90’s cult movie ‘Wayne’s World’, Bill’s world isn’t particularly excellent and, for most people, it certainly isn’t party time. To be honest, on the whole it’s actually just a pretty depressing place to be, with a split, demotivated workforce and an out-of-touch, out-of-control management busy “ethnically cleansing” any crew who dare to disagree or question.
In fact in “Bills world” things go from the ridiculous to the downright callous as the days go by; during this week alone we all received an ESS mail from Rachael Clarke, informing us that we would be having three additional VCC crew members on flights and for us to give them a “big, warm, cabin crew welcome on board”
The irony that these are the very people that volunteered to undermine and break our industrial action, ensuring that we not only lost money and work but also lost our staff travel, seems to have completely passed her by. Obviously they are also keeping their hand in, ready to break the next one. We have no idea what jobs they actually normally do, but clearly they cannot be missed very much; perhaps they should have a look over their own shoulders, as the shadow of new fleet approaches, they may very well find themselves on it, permanently this time.
XXXX XXXX, one of our most popular, short haul representatives, is facing a difficult and personal ongoing battle against cancer, we of course wish him well and know that XXXX will also feel much better and more supported in his fight, with the news that Bill Francis’s department has decided to stop paying him after the minimum 6 month period of sickness. In the past, fleet managers used their discretion to be humane and caring to people in difficult circumstances; not any longer in Bill’s world. They seem to believe that worrying how to pay your mortgage and being penniless will surely aid any cancer sufferer in their battle to stay alive. Don’t worry though, XXXX wasn’t singled out for this special treatment for being a union rep, we just use him as an example, everybody with long-term sickness, including cancer, now get treated exactly the same. Incidentally XXXX has given 45 years of service to this company meaning that XXXX was attending to passengers while Bill was still in nappies!
(Now that’s a thought not worth lingering over).
National newspapers recently revealed that Mr Walsh, alongside other Directors, is also set to receive massive future share bonuses and benefits, ironically at the exact same time as cabin crew have to pay more for a reduced pension.
The ill-judged fight for survival now resembles more of an unseemly squabble at the trough. As merger after merger is announced or rumoured, money now appears to be no object.
Chosen your future pension option? Then take a long hard look at your final pension projection and its meagre final figure, then be aware that a large proportion of our flight deck colleagues will receive pensions of over a hundred thousand pounds per year. Legislation only provides protection for pensions up to £29,748.68p, most cabin crew are of course, below this threshold. Perhaps that is why the pilot community were motivated to organise volunteers to break a strike of people who are possibly on a tenth of their salary. It would appear their motive was to save themselves, rather than British Airways. Lenny McCluskey, our preferred candidate has publicly committed to try and have BALPA removed from the TUC family for their crass, selfish actions.
So, to cheer us all up, how about: “Unite victorious as removed crew member is back on board” as a headline instead?
Don’t laugh, it’s true, we originally took industrial action over the removal of one crew member without agreement - we have now gained three! Job done, let’s all relax. Okay, they are all working to New Fleet terms with no agreement but hey, let’s not get picky...
A prominent central London billboard aptly reads:
“People from bad areas steal your mobile phone,
People from good areas steal your pension”
.....in Willy, Billy and Silly’s case it comes with a happy grin thrown in but not for much longer, keep the faith.
X X X X ......believe it.