Litebulbs
I agree that a union should be member driven, which is why I believe that in this instance the missing pieces of the jigsaw are
a) there is very little debate about what possible courses of action should be taken. Members were givin the option of strike action or nothing. No talk about work to rule, no suggestion of alternative strategies. One choice and only one, dictated by the branch executive. Not exactly member driven.
b) the 'mass' meetings have been able at best to accommodate less than 10% of the branch membership. Now given the nature of these meetings, they are not exactly designed to encourage dissenting voices. Indeed, given the rhetoric reported from the last meeting - which actually broke the 10% barrier because the overall membership had declined - I suggest that a dissenter runs the risk of being ripped to shreds. So those attending are the vociferous minority, yet their views are held to be representative of the membership at large. What happens about the 90% who don't make it to the meetings How do their views get heard ?
I suspect that the ballot will once again result in a mandate for strike action. What will be interesting is the turnout and the degree of support for it. By all accounts, probably 55% of the BASSA membership are cabin crew who went on strike. I guess it depends on whether these same individuals wish to lose yet more pay and whether the other 45% wish to remain in the branch. I believe that the branch executives of BASSA and CC89 will wish to announce strike dates. Whether the Unite leadership will agree to that remains to be seen. Setting aside any of the possible legal aspects, will Unite want to call a strike that runs the risk of being poorly supported and/or rendered ineffectual by BA management deploying other staff to cover those on strike ? It would not do the union's credibility much good.
22 days of strike action achieved nothing. Tony Woodley himself admitted as much. What will the stakes be next time ? 40 days ? How many cabin crew will be prepared to lose two months pay ? When does the membership at large get a say in how long any industrial action should be ?