As expected, an offer has been made....
BASSA - Latest News TALKS UPDATE Oct 16th, 2010
We were hoping to update you today with details of the completion of talks between British Airways and UNITE.
These had been expected to conclude on Thursday night, however these discussions, including involvement of ACAS and the TUC, continued into Friday, and finally concluded late on Friday night. Unite General Secretary, Tony Woodley held a late night briefing session that finished during the early hours of this morning, for the small number of reps that were released by BA to attend.
We do now have details of the offer and also a reasonable understanding of its detail; as you would expect, it contains both good and bad. Some points have legal implications and so require additional legal opinion; we need to secure that as quickly as possible.
We must all carefully decide our next step.
To reassure you all, Tony has committed that the decision will not be taken by him but will, quite rightly, rest with your elected reps. We in turn, as is our duty, commit to you that decisions will also ultimately not be taken by us, but directly by you, our members.
We understand your frustrations but please be aware that there is no hidden agenda or anything more sinister going on than careful thought.
We have most of the information that we need but it still needs to be shared and considered with a lot of the people that represent you. BASSA chair, Lizanne Malone has also not as yet seen it as Bill Francis declined her de-rostering to attend the briefing held by Tony Woodley.
We ask for your patience just a little while longer, while your union’s formal response is formulated.
We stress again that there is no need for any anxiety, as any - and all - decisions taken, will be yours.