The BA Union Thread I

[Dingbaticus]

Pprune by its very name is the melting pot of rumour and this one is VERY juicy, given it’s timing.

The Mods could consider it irrelevant to Pilots but I beg their indulgence, as our communities are intertwined, as are our relationships with our Companies and Unions – look at BALPA and IPA.

Firstly, let’s consider the post dispute landscape.

BASSA and the IFCE Leadership Team have successfully managed to move forward, despite a number of road blocks and red flags, as Keith Williams and Len McCluskey have indicated in their joint statement. This sends a clear signal to both sides that we can be confident in a stable, productive future which puts our customer back at the heart of our business.

Why then, you may ask, would Betty Girl be interested in joining a rumoured GMB backed Cabin Crew Union, which is not recognised under the Settlement Agreement? Why would they not want to join BASSA, given their stance in the dispute, why would they even feel the need to be a member of ANY Trade Union?

I am sure the clinical psychologist the Company brought in to assist in settling the dispute would have identified certain predictable behaviours, which would arise from the smouldering ashes of our dispute.

We all wish for South Africa, with it’s Truth and Reconciliation but in truth the depth of not only ‘Anti-BASSA’ sentiment but ‘Anti-Cabin Crew’ sentiment, as evidenced on this very forum (even towards ‘Backing BA’ members like Betty Girl and Ottergirl), makes it all too easy for disaffected factions to attempt to ignite a landscape more akin to Northern Ireland than South Africa.

I have personally resigned from Crew Defence, which was originally born out of frustration with the lack of legal challenge mounted by Unite to the withdrawal of Staff Travel from strikers.

I now personally understand this was due to Unite’s determination that FULL restoration of Staff Travel would always be a part of any negotiated settlement. Indeed, we have successfully had Staff Travel restored in full, as part of our honourably negotiated democratically voted for Settlement Agreement; given the time Crew Defence have required to bring this issue to Court, I now believe Unite followed a wise path.

However, it is too easy to dismiss this ‘rumour’ as a Crew Defence hissy fit. What of other ‘players’ in the dispute? Cabin Crew ’89 were amalgamated with BASSA as a requirement of the Settlement Agreement, could there be an under current of unease with this requirement? Whatever happened to PCCC, are they a Union, did they register, with whom?

Now, for the new kids on the block. Almost 400 Mixed Fleet Cabin Crew have reportedly joined Unite. They currently have no Union recognition from the Company but when they hit that magic 51%, they can legally demand collective representation. Hold on to your hats when they do!

Thanks to our Flight Crew colleagues vote to give BMI their boarding card to join our family, there will be an injection of experienced Unionised Cabin Crew into our Company, the body part where that needle will be stuck is yet to be bared.

If I was a disaffected opportunist, I would recognise an opportunity in the smoking embers left over from our dispute. There are up coming BASSA elections and an opportunity for change in BASSA this summer but why bother with all that messy democracy when you can start a new Union?

Before the dispute many of us were not engaged with our Company or Union, content to enjoy the above industry pay and conditions without asking what we could do for either our Company or our Union. Post dispute that landscape is changed forever, recognising the passion and strength of our community we are being empowered using new technology and building bridges under the One Team Initiative

While I have the utmost respect for the GMB as a Union, I do not respect opportunists who I believe have benefited from BASSA representation under the Unite umbrella, yet fail to seize the upcoming opportunity to be elected as a BASSA Rep. If the rumours (and there are many) prove to be true, I would question some folks moral values and personally would not want to be represented by them – whatever umbrella they hide under!

I do not watch from afar, I watch from the calm water as those who throw stones at glass houses muddy the puddles around them. Luckily I am wearing my waterproof spandex!




The postings made by Dingbaticus are my own thoughts, feelings and beliefs and don’t necessarily represent my employers positions, strategies or opinions.