BA Bank Holiday Chaos

[easyprison]

From BBC;

The GMB industrial action is scheduled for either 27, 28, 29 or 30 August and is set to cause chaos over one of the year's busiest periods for travel.

The strike will affect only Heathrow and Gatwick and is set to run from 0330 GMT until 0330 GMT the following day.

Six UK airports could be hit, however, if more BA employees vote to strike in a TGWU ballot due later this week.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3567576.stm

[Paterbrat]

It would be interesting to see exactly how many of the counter staff actualy voted to strike, some of the comments attributed to the union spokepeople about the pay rises seemed pretty nonsensical. If a pay rise is greater than inflation then one is patently not going backwards. If one deliberately damages the system that pays one then that, to most people, would seem to be a retrograde step. The quality of leadership in some of the more militant of our institutions purporting to protect the underdog sometimes appears to create more hardship than it protects from. An observation I have no doubt will be disagreed with by it's supporters. I am not anti-union per se however sometimes however they appear to be hijacked by a small minority who then engineer confrontation that is not really suported by rank and file membership.

[Jet II]

It would be interesting to see exactly how many of the counter staff actualy voted to strike

Is that relevant? - would you be asking the same question if the result of the ballot had been in favour of accepting the pay rise?

If a pay rise is greater than inflation then one is patently not going backwards.

It will only be greater than inflation if we accept the unpensionable option - even then you could argue that accepting pay rises that are unpensionable is a retrograde step.

[eal401]

This will have a severe impact on BA customers, so there's not much chance of the management too being bothered.

[BahrainLad]

Hmmm.....2600 eligible to vote, 48% turnout and of that, 53% in favour.

So a grand total of 662 votes for a strike......hardly the level of support the brothers would have you believe.....

[Jet II]

So a grand total of 662 votes for a strike......hardly the level of support the brothers would have you believe.....

Works out to about 25% of the electorate - which just happens to be the same as voted Labour at the last election.

If 25% is good enough to run the country surely the same percentage at BA is as much of a democratic mandate?

[ojs]

Jet II , I would agree with you to a point: but the difference with this ballot and an election is that in an election, everybody who's impacted gets the chance to vote. That's not the case at BA.

My sympathy was lost when the Unions refused to go to binding arbitration without even asking their members what they thought of the scheme.

[kaikohe76]

BA Industrial Action

If the strike goes ahead, it can only be good news for Easyjet
, Ryanair etc. Eventhough there appears to be only a rather modest majority in favour of industrial action, is this really the way for our major airline to behave. sets a really good example.
Oh well most of the pax affected will only be economy and we know what BA reallt think of these travellers!

[Stampe]

Actually BA are by far the best Uk airline to fly economy with !Working for a Uk charter airline I position with them round the Uk most weeks,allocated seating,free and excellent snacks and drinks,free newspapers,invariably punctual and with staff who are generally good and one can have confidence in.When travelling on my own account ex LGW I find their fares consistently competitive and considering the extras compared to the lo service carriers its no contest.There were problems with the 73 fleet at LGW lastweek and I found myself transported in style to Manchester in a 777 just 20 minutes late impressive back up.I,m confident BA will still be here long after the lo service carriers have done an Air Europe!!! quality wins. Having had thirty years in the industry I feel safe confident and comfortable flying with BA not a feeling engendered by my experieces on the lo service carriers

[BahrainLad]

Works out to about 25% of the electorate - which just happens to be the same as voted Labour at the last election.

....and in a general election you have more than one choice (in fact, loads) which reduces the pluralist result rather than the majority.

In an "election" where there is a simple either/or, 25% does not give you a mandate.

[akerosid]

I wonder what recourse customers have against the union as a result of this. As I see it, pax have a contract with BA to fly them wherever they're going and if the unions obstruct or frustrate this contract, then surely pax have either a right of action (including injunctive relief) against the unions.

I appreciate that the unions feel they have a grievance and naturally want to use the busiest bank holiday of the year as a bargaining chip, but it hardly seems fair that pax can be put through the misery of threats like this on a regular basis.

I wonder how BA's bookings are suffering as a result of this? When, if at all, do they become responsible for changing the travel plans of pax?

[ABird747]

Why would they be any more responsible than when ASLEF brings London to a standstill?

[Fester T Adams]

I'm due to fly with BA in early September just after the bank holiday weekend, so I know selfishly I hope I will miss the fallout from this strike should it go ahead. However my commiserations go out to any pax whose journeys are affected by it. During my trip I'm also scheduled to use two other airlines, a local airline & United, I've just been informed rightly or wrongly that both of these airlines are voting on strike action too.

What is it with airlines, they seem to have discontented staff almost right across the board. Worse they seem to have selfish staff right across the board who have no consideration or concern for their customers & get back at their employers by hurting their innocent pax. All they will succeeed in doing is alienating Joe Public even more against them at one of the most popular weekends for airtravel in the UK, & no doubt lose any wish for many customers to fly with them again. Far from BA once being the worse proud, reliable brand name that it was, to many pax including me its brand name & image is fast going down the toilet.

I mean can BA afford another drastic customer relations fiasco like this after their similar one last year. At the rate alot of you airline staff are going you'll be lucky if you've any jobs to go to if you continue to behave in this selfish vein without an iota of consideration & concern for your pax.

If any of you stupid airlines screw up my travel arrangements you WILL hear about it & be made to feel the brunt, believe you me.

Happy flying everybody.

[norodnik]

yet another short sighted decision from those at the union seeking their 15 minutes of fame.

Most of us humans are lucky enough to have 2 feet. If the job is so crap, and the pay so awful, why not go somewhere else.

The world is full of in-equality, just because the boss gets paid a bit more is no reason to expect you will too, despite the fact that you may deserve it.

The law of supply and demand dictates who gets what. If BA's ticket prices rise above a competetive level then we won't need the checkin staff anyway, and hey presto they will be out of a job.

On an broadly unrelated topic, I have just been to JNB and had my baggage "lost" for 9 days and when returned to me, it had been broken into and was all soaking wet. I made over 80 unanswered phone calls to BA in the UK and SA trying to find out what was happening trying to locate my bag. Seems like there is a serious morale problem.

[Fester T Adams]

Well said norodnik & my commiserations over your bag fiasco. See Ryanair are in deep trouble for a similar episode, a customers bag was returned to him after it went missing for a few weeks. Inside was a camera & when he got the film developed there was a pic of a FR baggage handler manhandling his bag, seemingly outside the baggage handling area. Turns out they'd broken into this pax luggage, taken the camera out, taken a picture of themselves & replaced the camera. Could rate as one of the most stupid employees ever.

Sorry for diverting from the topic, now back to BA.

[CARR30]

Good to see that a thread on a BA strike has turned so readily into Ryanair bashing.

[Have you heard this!]

Well I don't blame the BA check-in staff going on strike, their pay is disgusting about £12,000 PA inc. unsocial hours, and thats tops. Most of the staff at MAN are part time as they won't employ full time people. It's one of the worst pay at any UK airports.

Unfortunately it's the only way to get people to listen.
It's up to the management they either pay up or it will cost them millions the ball is in their court.

[Fester T Adams]

I am NOT FR bashing (though I wouldn't mind hitting MOL over the head every now & then) & I'm sorry for veering off the subject, it is just that norodniks post reminded me of this incident I read today & I thought readers would find it humorous & interesting. I was merely stating a current incident that I felt would have been of interest to the readership here.

[Buster the Bear]

So what is the deal offered by management and refused by staff via a democratic ballot and therefore what was the reasoning by the union for refusing a management proposed binding arbitration?

Staff have paid the price for downturn in travel post Sept 11th etc, but deserve a reward when times are better and profits are high? You can only 'shaft' folk a few times, then they bite back or walk, at £12,000 per year, that is less than £250 per week, what do these staff have to lose by pushing for better money?

This is a battle between staff and management, from events last year, both sides seem intent on damaging their business this time. No winners here I feel. Passengers are of no seeming concequence!

[ABird747]

they seem to have discontented staff almost right across the board. Worse they seem to have selfish staff right across the board who have no consideration or concern for their customers

Do you think the decisions to strike has been taken lightly? Our check-in staff have been backed into a corner by their management over the last 4-5 years. Can you imagine what pressure you have to put a section of the workforce that by its demographic (mostly middle aged and female)is not militant to come to a decision like this?

us humans are lucky enough to have 2 feet. If the job is so crap, and the pay so awful, why not go somewhere else

That's exactly what people are doing. The turnover in the terminals is so high because people join the airline not realising that when they finally get to do the job they are so short of staff as to be run ragged. As far as the pay goes; would you rather interact with people who are good at their jobs and have 2 braincells to rub together? If you pay peanuts you get monkeys. Why not pay people a decent wage that they can support themselves on so that you retain staff who are enjoy and are good at their jobs.

just because the boss gets paid a bit more is no reason to expect you will too

No one expects to be paid as much as our leadership team, all we wish for is to be treated fairly. We were told that if we tightened our belts during the hard times we would be rewarded when the pressure let off a bit. When the airline makes £150m profit in a quarter, staff who have taken a net pay cut over the past 5 years expect something in return. Arguments that US staff are taking pay cuts are simply not valid in this context. Our productivity is much higher than our US counterparts. I have compared my works patterns with other US crew and have found that I work on average 40-45% more than they do and am still paid less.

had my baggage "lost" for 9 days and when returned to me, it had been broken into and was all soaking wet. I made over 80 unanswered phone calls to BA in the UK and SA trying to find out what was happening trying to locate my bag.

Perhaps a visit to the airport to see exactly what happens when there is a period of such intense disruption as there was during the summer storms would be in order. Your bag was probably opened during screening before it was dispatched to you. So much luggage mis-connected because, as you will know, so many flights were cancelled (you may have noticed it rained a little which would have explained the wetness of your bag) . You made it to your next flight because you have 2 legs to walk when you're rebooked. You suitcase does not. When things go so wrong there simply isn't the manpower to re-screen (which is what takes the most time) and redistribute your bag onto a suitable service. Neither is there room to keep the misconnected luggage inside due to the design of airport terminals.

If any other industry goes on strike people have a little grumble and a carp and then get on with it. The tube, the benefits office, the post-office et al... Whenever an airline goes on strike it's open season, why is it that employees of other companies can expect to be able to exercise their right (and it is a right that EVERYONE has) to strike whereas airline employees cannot?

Oh, and on a final note...

If any of you stupid airlines screw up my travel arrangements you WILL hear about it & be made to feel the brunt, believe you me

How about growing up a little? Tantrums are rarely attractive, especially in people who should have the maturity and self control to know better.