Miss M Wrote
Because some of us have created ourselves a career with BA and brought the company to where it is today. We are not going to let a selfish CEO destroy what we have achieved for his selfish reasons.
We are a strong community.
Um... no. Some cabin crew have been employed by BA for a substantial number of years. They have,
along with the other 30,000+ employees of the company, contributed at times to its profitability. Cabin crew have also been responsible for more lost days due to sickness, created more uncertainty for BA's customers with threats of strike action, actually walked out for more strike days than any other part of the airline and as such have probably done more damage to the company's overall profitability than any other part of the workforce. Sorry to burst your bubble.
I don't doubt that cabin crew are a strong community, however, it would appear that not all of that community believe that strike action is the best way to resolve this dispute, as evidenced by the numbers who reported for work earlier this year. What was the soubriquet applied ?? Oh yes, Sausage Chips And Beans. Such a wonderful feel of community spirit. I might disagree with my colleagues at times, but I will defend their right to hold an opposing view to my own. What I cannot condone is the abuse that the strikers have hurled at colleagues who simply believed that striking was wrong. The acrimonious comments heaped on colleagues from across the airline who volunteered to take on cabin crew roles in order to keep the company flying have been totally unwarranted. We are just people who hold a very different viewpoint on what the effect of strike action could be on BA. We wish to preserve the jobs of the other 75% of workers who make up this company.
Judging from the turnout, it would seem that over half of cabin crew also hold a similar view. They may have voted to 'send a message', but clearly did not want to walk out. Is that the action of a strong community ?
What selfish reasons did the CEO have ? I thought that CEO's were put in place to manage the company on behalf of the shareholders. The object of the exercise being to provide shareholders with a good return on investment and ensuring the long term profitability of the organisation. CEO's tend to have their rewards package tied very closely to the profitability of the company, so it is target driven and a chunk of it is in share options etc. The targets are set by the board.
I would suggest that the outgoing CEO has done a good job at ensuring that a lot of the fat has been trimmed from BA. He has halved the number of senior managers, reduced the rest of the management population by a third, driven through changes in working practices on ground staff that has seen significant cost savings. He has also steered the company through one of the most turbulent periods in air transport, with the twin challenges of a downturn in premium demand as a result of the global economy, plus the rise of the low cost operators. He also managed to get the company to achieve a 10% profit margin, something that had eluded previous CEOs. I don't think that is destroying the company. Sure, it has been painful, but as the saying goes, you can't make an omlette without breaking a few eggs.
BA is in a better position now than it would have been if he had not pushed through these changes. It would be in an even better position if cabin crew would recognise the need for change in their own area and stop what a lot of other staff see to be a pointless dispute. .