BASSA's executive (whosoever that may be) is being so transparent here. It is abuntantly clear, just like with the previous WW/TW negotiated offer, that BASSA has no intention whatsoever of any vote ever being put to its membership.
Rather than scuppering the membership offer vote at the executive level, like last time, it is going through the pretense of appearing to give the call to its members but is going for a meeting at very short notice at an undisclosed venue arranged by an executive who no longer work for BA but cannot be voted out and who will benefit by the dispute not being settled while asking for a non-anonymous show of hands right in front of the very people who told them if you don't agree with us you can leave BASSA!
You can see why WW/BA made it a stipulation to TW/Unite that it recommend BASSA/CC89 put the offer to a vote of its members.
I would suggest that BA places a similar stipulation on this offer to Unite and further defines the vote as an anonymous postal ballot of all members balloted in the original strike action rather than a shady, contrived, show of hands as above. BA can extend the strike call deadline some more to cover the ballot period.
If either Unite refuses to accept this stipulation or BASSA's/CC89's executives continue to play the above games it will be clear to the everyone where the culpability lies.
Further, isn't this just like the very first Xmas 2009 strike call when after TW/WW agreed an extension to allow time to ballot the executives went ahead called the strike anyway?
Yet further evidence that this whole matter is a power struggle/ego game between BA's management and the Union/Branch executives with no thought whatsoever for the membership.
BASSA's executive will call this dispute over only when full power and control of BA's IFCE operations is returned to it and not before and even should this happen (which it never will) the members still wouldn't be given a chance to vote as it would be deemed unnecessary!
When will the rank and file learn that their subscription paid executives are only acting in their own selfish interests and not that of their members?
Last edited by AV Flyer; 8th May 2011 at 14:15.