This sacking was confirmed by LM on 25/7 - no change on the anti pilot anti-management rhetoric:
BASSA > Latest News
IS THE DUST SETTLING?
Jul 25th, 2011 by admin
92% to now.
It is less than a month since we received a pretty overwhelming endorsement from you, our membership, to try and move forward into a new and hopefully better era.
Since the result was announced our communication has probably been a little more sparse than normal. There is only one reason for that, probably just like you, we all needed a little respite; a little time to think and to come to terms with the fact that our long dispute is over.
Like all disputes this was a hard struggle; it is widely accepted that this was one of the bitterest in modern trade union history, the longest strike ever in British transport and the most divisive conflict since the miners’ dispute.
We all may welcome peace, but it isn’t always as easy to come to terms with. After fighting for so long, peace comes as something of a shock. The battles may be ending but the wounds inflicted during them will take far longer to heal, if in truth they ever will.
We are slowly trying to rebuild our union all over again; the settlement was what the vast majority of people wanted because it would bring about a peace to a weary workforce, but they also want it to be a genuine and lasting peace.
To achieve this, behaviour need to change on both sides, not just BASSA. We will work hard to uphold our part of the bargain but we expect the same commitment from the management side. For them to carry on in the same manner adopted during the dispute is not good enough.
There also has to be a genuine change in their approach as well. There have been signs of it but there have also been a worrying return to the injustices of the past.
Justice must be for all, not just some; dual standards lead to resentment, resentment to anger and anger into conflict. We all have a responsibility to ensure that that does not happen.
Mr Williams’ personal approach is a welcome and refreshing change but that change in approach needs to filter down throughout the rest of the management community if it is to be successful. Too many still appear far too happy to continue in the disastrous manner of his predecessor. That is something that needs to change and to change quickly.
Since our dispute ended we have had some positives and some negatives. Staff travel has been restored in full and with full seniority; our union offices have opened for the first time in two years. In August, our meeting structures will resume and allow us to begin to represent your views once again. For the first time in a long time, some sensible, common sense management decisions are beginning to creep in.
On the other hand, a significant number of pilots and individual managers seem to believe it to be acceptable to bully and intimidate crew for voicing an opinion and we still remain a very divided community. The VCCs are going but they have not gone yet, the transition into the Customer Experience Programme will take a period of time and that is to be expected, but as long as VCCs remain onboard it will only serve as a constant reminder of the dispute.
The biggest and most disappointing reminder that some people have not put the dispute behind them was the sacking of popular Worldwide CSD, PXXX DXXX. PXXX did no more than many others; he had an opinion and he voiced it on a private members only forum.
He was pursued and investigated, as others have also been, by an overly eager Asset Protection Department, who continue to behave as though British Airways were their own personal fiefdom. That a little bit of mercy and compassion could not have been shown, or an understanding that opinions and feelings were running high during the dispute, is extremely disappointing.
In Mr Williams’ own words, people say things in anger when feelings are running high, but if the “war” has truly ended then it is time that everyone accepted that and the cease fire is honoured and an amnesty granted. We hope that common sense prevails during Pxxxx’s appeal process.
So far some progress and some set-backs, in reality this is to be expected after such a difficult period of time.
We remain on course and committed; we know the desire of the senior leadership within British Airways is equally strong and so we are confident that things will evolve for the better, however their conviction needs to be instilled pretty quickly into the managers below them who do not share their enthusiasm for change.