Youwererobbed said:
"What a load of absolute rubbish! There is no truth whatsoever in this rumour."
I normally don't rise to flame-bait, but as it's been a while, I really can't resist.
Not a rumour - fact. Wherever you get your information from - it's wrong. I will be at that meeting tomorrow, and having talked to my contempraries, I can say with confidence that there will be a call for a ballot.
You then went on to state:
"Do feel sorry for the FE's who haven't been treated too well by BA or BALPA. The FE's would need a separate union to strike legally, I've certainly not got anything from BALPA about a strike ballot and to be honest there would be not much support for any action over just 18 guys doing an outdated job. "
Again, a load of horse manure. There is, according to BALPA, no necessity to involve any pilot in this dispute. It is perfectly legal for the Flight Engineers to ballot and strike independant of the pilots.
Then the drivel continued with this offering:
"Didn't the company offer you guys the chance to carry on as Cabin Crew? As the pilots have done in the past?"
The pilots may have done so in the past. It's obviously easier for Pilots to work as Cabin Crew than it is for Professional Flight Engineers.
I personally have no desire to be Cabin Crew - I have nothing against Cabin Crew, but I've been a Flight Engineer for 30 years, and asking me to re-train as Cabin Crew is like asking Doctors to work as Nurses for the rest of their career.
So, basically, everything you said was based upon mis-informed information, if you based it upon anything at all.
OK, no more Flame-Bait guys, OK?