We went on strike because of the principle of imposition
Please please Miss M we have done that one to death. The hard facts were that BA waited 9 months before 'imposing' They gave Bassa loads of time, in fact they went months beyond the original June 30th 2009 deadline. So what was BA supposed to do then. I'll tell one thing. I don't know if you've met DH, spoken to him or in fact you are him?, but that man would have still been sitting there saying no now. Its sad but true. Bassa's 'great idea' was to take money off EVERYONE for 2 years - in my case £80/month, to support putting the crewing levals back to what they were. It meant poor old SFG would have contributed circa £25-40/month on their wages to 'support' good old LHR. But the piece de resistance was that it was TEMPORARY
It didn't matter that it was £10m short. I have spoken to many senior crew and ex Bassa reps who have ALL said this was DH BIGGEST mistake. I agree. this was where Bassa lost a lot of support along with the 12 days of Xmas announced at the same time.
We are facing a management with a set agenda
And guess what. BA have been facing a union with a set agenda for many many years I'm afraid. Thats why we are in the mess we are with one ballot after another and an atmosphere at work thats toxic on some days. We have ALL lost, strikers, non-strikers, and even Mixed fleet, which JUST might not have happened IF Bassa would have come up with enough realistic,permanent T/C's changes to have given BA longterm savings.( Believe me there are enough on both WW and EF that could save BA a fortune and wouldn't have made a lot of differance to the crew). The best example in fact is the £127m/year saving from the crewing levals. Not the worst hardship I've found, just got to work a bit harder, smarter, differantly and be proactive.
A bidding system? It should have been introduced years ago, not when we are working on a shrinking fleet losing destinations almost every month.
Miss M, I totally agree. However, we ALL know that you can't have a bid system with the crazy differances of extras that certain destinations pay. The pilots had that one for years. Had Bassa been proactive ( there is a first time for everything) they would have seen that having having huge extra payments on a small number of flights, SIN.HKG, NRT etc, was potential disaster. In fact I spoke to a number of reps years ago about this but to no avail. Put all the money into one pot, divide it more fairly, and bingo. We could have had a bidding system. Same for allowances. When the pilots accepted £2.57/hour, we were offered the same, as well as a massive saving from the taxman. But Bassa didn't even speak to a company tax expert. No it was trashed sadly like so many things. The worst thing is that this was SO predictable. The one thing I've learnt in BA, is thatwhere money is involved,then rarely the pilots get it wrong
So now there is NO chance of a bid system, and you have to bet on BA keeping their word about transferring of routes. Guarentees. Forget it. BA are now in control I'm afraid. Brilliant
PC767
I reiterate, bassa is more than the two people at the top - at any given time.
Oh how I wish it were, but sadly thats not true. DH and Lala lady have IMO a veto on any idea/suggestion others might have.
Mesmer
I believe what BA imposed on us is far better for us than what BASSA suggested and called the strike for. I also believe most of the points this ballot is about are a direct result of the BASSA reps' failure to negotiate and then instigation of a needless strike over those issues.
A perfect summery IMO
Litebulbs
Who do you think should be negotiating, Bassa or Unite?
Sorry to tell you Litebulbs, but IMO neither. Its not so much a Bassa/Unite problem but more of a problem with DH and Len. They are sadly IMO perfect for each other but NOT for this dispute. Sorry
I am sure you will agree, that it does not matter what happened before. The most important thing will be what happens in the future. Bassa could change over night if a fresh view on negotiating happens and it could still be with the current incumbents, although I admit that it will be difficult.
A lovely thought Litebulbs and I really respect you for trying to see a positive outlook in all of this, but you, me and a lot of others know thats not going to happen. There is 'difficult' and 'nigh on impossible'. A massive differance
Hiflyer14
The thing that makes my blood boil is that all of this has been so unnecessary - MF, strikes, the atmosphere at work, strikers v. non-strikers, loss of ST, treatment of crew who still have ST, pay freeze, all the appalling behaviour and subsequent disciplinaries, the list goes on. We could have had control over our own destiny, but the BASSA reps simply didn't have the intelligence or the competence to be able to do it. We were handed it on a plate and they simply gave it all away.
Also Yellow Pen #3583