Studi,
The simple fact is that no employee group has the right to strike over a company forming another company outside of their employers AOC. If that were the case then we would all be living in the Socialist Utopia of Government owned Airlines as no private company would be able to form new companies without incurring the wrath of the Unions.
The question being given to the pilots is whether they are willing to give a little to enable the cost effective integration of BMI. If they are not then BMI will be run by IAG as a seperate, competeing company on a lower cost base from LHR.
That's it, that's the question. IAG is only putting this to the question due to the hard work of the BACC in ensuring the members of the IAG board that integration would be better. This is attempting to future protect our T's & C's but, as any of us who have been in this industry for a few years knows, the future is fluid.
If the money makers and politicians in the Euro zone sort out their political penny mess then the future could prop up the profits of SH and allow the timings to be met. If the Euro sinks into the quagmire then the future could be different. I don't know, if I did I would be a richer man than I am now. I would like to be in a position to argue that fight when it comes however not be side lined in a withering branch of a big corporation. If giving up a couple of days leave, a bit of productivity and allowing the formations of pp34 is what it requires then so be it. Even if the spectre of moving to PP34 arises in the future, so be it.
The pilots you malign so much for being spineless have given up much over the past decade to protect those at the bottom. If you don't like it then go somewhere more militant, American Airlines perhaps? Their successful campaign led to AMR being delisted this week, the airline going to chapter 11 and they will force what they want for restructuring from the Unions anyway. Isn't IA a wonderful thing. The head honcho of the Unite Union in the UK came from a failed campaign, Len McKlusky led the Liverpool dock workers to a spectacular Union win in the 1970's which then precipitated the collapse of the Liverpool Docks shortly afterward and the loss of all jobs in Liverpool. Unions at their best through IA?
Simple answer, IA is not an option and even if it were, in the current climate, like the previous BASSA dispute, would be a ludicrous form of professional suicide.