And just in case you weren't sure what BASSA really want you to vote (names at end removed to protect the "
innocent"
Our futures depend on your votes.
The current proposal upon which you will shortly be asked to vote concerns, in part, the rights of cabin crew like us who have been sacked by BA because of the Industrial Dispute. It's nice to know we have our own appendix in BA’s offer but we have no vote on it.
BA has suggested that we must agree to binding ACAS arbitration by people over whom only BA have a right of veto. In return for this, our union, to whom we as loyal members have paid our dues over many years, will undertake to withdraw all direct and indirect financial and legal support if we should decide we wish to pursue our cases through the established system of an Employment Tribunal.
At the moment, we already have a legal right to request such arbitration and BA can accept this if they should wish to do so. Unfortunately they have not, as far as any of us are aware, agreed to any such arbitration. This proposal does not grant us any additional rights but instead strips away our Union's support for us as union members without any ability for us to have a democratic say in how our affairs should be managed in the future. Legal costs for such an action could exceed £20,000 if we were to be forced into this position and few of us would be able to pursue our cases if the Union, through their solicitors, were not able to back us at a Tribunal.
Worse still, at a Tribunal, individual managers are personally liable for any decision that they have taken as part of the disciplinary procedure. By removing our right to union representation at a Tribunal, none of those who have mistreated cabin crew, with their campaign to weaken our union through destroying individual careers, will ever be held to account. In fact such an arrangement will lift the fear of how they will be viewed by the Courts and could embolden such people even further. A vote to accept this offer could in fact lead to an increase in the number of cabin crew dismissed by BA purely because the hearing managers will no longer be worried about being held to such account in the courts.
As we have said above, as we are no longer employed by BA, we do not have a vote on this offer. However, our futures, our union’s backing and our legal rights are being traded between Unite and BA. We, it seems, are not people with civil liberties who should be consulted about any decisions on our lives but merely pawns in a bigger game.
If we did have a vote, it would be No.
When you have the chance to vote on this offer, we urge you to think of us. We can’t vote but we urge those of you that can, to do so wisely and in the full knowledge that our situation could also be yours.
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