The warning in the staff travel issue is, in my view, neither here nor there. I can't imagine any judge saying 'well you warned them that you were going to "kill them" "steal their wallet" "remove staff travel" therefore, you had the right to do it.'
However, BASSA are claiming that ST is "contractual". By doing so, they are dismissing their own case. Pay, which most definitely is contractual,
is stopped when someone strikes. The only relevant point to consider therefore is: do BA have to provide anything (pay, perks, union offices, etc) to people/unions conducting IA? Due to precedent, it seems it is legal to stop pay during IA, therefore it must be equally legal to stop ST, regardless of whether it is contractual or not. For example, if a striker had private medical benefits, would a company be expected to pay that? If they had a company mobile phone, would the company be expected to pay that? The answer must surely be no. Staff travel was offered to be returned very quickly after the strike, albeit without seniority. BASSA should have taken it, and then fought for the seniority back. If commuters are struggling financially to get to work, it is BASSA's fault for not accepting it back when it was offered. An ID90 with no seniority is still an awful lot cheaper than a full fare ticket.
That the BASSA leadership STILL feel that they have the right to decide on behalf of the members what action to take summarises quite succintly why we are in this mess. Ask any cabin crew member what a new strike ballot will be about, and they will be unable to tell you. I can't tell you, and believe me I follow this closer than most! You have asked Miss M - she can't state it either. Surely, if a community is to be led down the strike path, it should be because they are "outraged" "disgusted" "have no other option" etc due to the way a company is behaving. If we can't even state what it is about, how could the company be behaving in any way that would justify a strike?
Bridchen - you are right that the Professional Cabin Crew Council have not yet experienced negotiations with BA. But people don't vote for future Presidents or Prime Ministers on what they HAVE done, but rather what they say they WILL do. That's the nature of electioneering. The PCCC say that we will collaborate with BA, and we will conduct business with them in a productive, sensible way that benefits not only the crew, but the company and the customer as well. Many, many, many cabin crew colleagues agree - and have left BASSA and joined the PCCC to help us regain a voice for our community. I hope that you will too.
