Litebulbs
I agree, it was stupid not to de-roster the chair of BASSA for the meeting.
Couple of comments on this.
a) In all this dispute it has been abundantly apparent that the negotiations have been cockeyed. BA negotiate with Unite. Unite has two branches, CC89 and BASSA. The Unite negotiating team then relay the results of their talks with BA management to the respective branches. My understanding is (and please, someone correct me if I am wrong) that the branches then determine whether to accept or reject the deal struck. BA are not permitted to negotiate directly with the branches as this would be undermining Unite's position. I thought that at the ACAS talks last September this was mooted as a solution but discarded for precisely that reason.
b) Since BASSA are not involved in direct negotiations, there is no compelling reason to deroster any of its executive for negotiations.
c) Even if there were the vaguest suggestion that it would be prudent to deroster the BASSA chairperson so that she could discuss what had been put forward with the JGS of Unite, there was no clear date when the discussion with BA woudl be concluded. All that BA could have done would have been to deroster her for the duration of the negotiations. Now this may have ot been possible due to the nature of the roster pattern she was working. It might be that in doing so she would have been removed from two full tours. Clearly, BA should not be required to pay her any of the downroute allowances, box payments or other expenses as she hadn't worked them. To deroster someone for potentially two or three weeks, particularly the chairperson of BASSA, in this way could be seen as inflammatory. Said chairperson could claim, with some justification, that BA was in effect reducing her income.
So a no-win position. It is also noteworthy that according to BASSA's own statements, the negotiations ended late on Friday night and the JGS then
'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.' Given that it was late on a Friday night, I did wonder if there weren't other reasons for non-attendance other than being on duty. 