BA Unofficial Strike ( Merged)
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Who's to blame?
Who is really to blame?
There is simply no excuse for illegal action. The law is the glue that holds a society together; it also protects the weak from the strong and the abused from the abuser. At the moment I’m absolutely furious that a few union hotheads have completely ignored the law and, as a consequence, cost my company £80 million and in the process probably driven the final nail into our FSS pension scheme. I’d like to string the bastards up by their hairy ball bags and leave them to rot at gallows constructed somewhere around the hold 27L.
However on reflection I’m not sure my anger is being directed at those truly responsible. The actions of the Gate Gourmet management are becoming more widely known and frankly are so reprehensible and illegal that BA surely has a moral duty to change supplier with immediate effect.
Many of the GG staff were originally employed by BA. Just like you and me. They were then sold off and TUPE came into effect. However, in a tough market, GG management made promises they simply couldn’t deliver. But these promises came with huge bonuses for their management. The people that had to pay for their greed were the low paid whose already very low pay came under immediately under attack. The quality of food became so poor that Virgin stopped dealing with GG a few months ago. Even BA SH pilots who will eat anything if it’s put in front of them noticed that the food on offer was reaching levels that made it almost inedible. A series of illegal, despicable and utterly immoral programs were initiated by the GG management. All aimed at undermining those who should have been protected under law by TUPE. But nobody really cares about the low paid do they? Somehow our society only seems to really care about the rights of the middle classes and above. Everybody else is just lucky to be employed.
On Thursday GG were handing out redundancy notices (that’s the sack) to employees who had worked in some cases for over 30 years in the same job. At the same time they brought in 130 “part time” seasonal workers to cover the operation. This is illegal and immoral. It was also designed to intimidate a workforce into taking the only action the poor and low paid can ultimately take. They simply stopped working. There can be doubt that this was pre-planned as the police and ready made termination notices were already in position. (Some interesting questions need to be asked about the police involvement. Somebody in GG must be able to call in some pretty big favours with Mr Plod to get this type of response BEFORE any action had taken place……London needs all the police it can get at the moment). The GG staff were all herded into their canteen and held against their wishes. Yep the staff were locked in and not able to leave the building. That is again so against the law that it beggars belief. Then they were sacked by loud hailer and 600 termination notices handed out. But it wasn’t just those who were held captive that were sacked it also applied to those who had the day off or even those who were on holiday. Again the law was completely ignored by those who stood to receive huge bonuses by getting round the TUPE agreements. Yet our police force were assisting in this action.
To whom do these people turn? The police who had assisted in their dismissal? The law is certainly out of reach for these people and also takes years to address any situation. They have families and mortgages just like you and me. They have bills to pay and food to buy today. Not sometime in the future. So they turned to the only people who really care, their families. It just so happened that many of these worked for BA. And they did the only thing that the low paid can do………they stopped working. The militant seized the initiative and BA end up losing £80 million.
There are union hotheads who play politics with peoples lives. BA must get rid of these people. There are many work practises that simply have to change if BA wants to survive: mostly on the ground, some in the air and, god forbid, one or two on our side of the flightdeck door.
But the real culprits in all this are the GG management who acted so illegally and immorally that the social glue that holds us all together simply stopped working. Some of us make our living by flying aeroplanes, some by making sandwiches. But we should all be treated the same. In this case the sandwich makers got treated like slaves from a bygone era. That the ripples that this incident caused should affect the pilots has us all incensed. But if I had been told that LGW pilots had all been sacked whilst Polish pilots took their place then I would also have stopped working. If I was then hounded into a building and locked in by the police to be given a pre-printed notice of termination, then I too would be mighty, mighty pissed.
These poor workers may not be in our company but they are in our community. BA should be calling for heads of the board of GG to swing next to the heads of the union militants at the gallows of 27L.
There is simply no excuse for illegal action. The law is the glue that holds a society together; it also protects the weak from the strong and the abused from the abuser. At the moment I’m absolutely furious that a few union hotheads have completely ignored the law and, as a consequence, cost my company £80 million and in the process probably driven the final nail into our FSS pension scheme. I’d like to string the bastards up by their hairy ball bags and leave them to rot at gallows constructed somewhere around the hold 27L.
However on reflection I’m not sure my anger is being directed at those truly responsible. The actions of the Gate Gourmet management are becoming more widely known and frankly are so reprehensible and illegal that BA surely has a moral duty to change supplier with immediate effect.
Many of the GG staff were originally employed by BA. Just like you and me. They were then sold off and TUPE came into effect. However, in a tough market, GG management made promises they simply couldn’t deliver. But these promises came with huge bonuses for their management. The people that had to pay for their greed were the low paid whose already very low pay came under immediately under attack. The quality of food became so poor that Virgin stopped dealing with GG a few months ago. Even BA SH pilots who will eat anything if it’s put in front of them noticed that the food on offer was reaching levels that made it almost inedible. A series of illegal, despicable and utterly immoral programs were initiated by the GG management. All aimed at undermining those who should have been protected under law by TUPE. But nobody really cares about the low paid do they? Somehow our society only seems to really care about the rights of the middle classes and above. Everybody else is just lucky to be employed.
On Thursday GG were handing out redundancy notices (that’s the sack) to employees who had worked in some cases for over 30 years in the same job. At the same time they brought in 130 “part time” seasonal workers to cover the operation. This is illegal and immoral. It was also designed to intimidate a workforce into taking the only action the poor and low paid can ultimately take. They simply stopped working. There can be doubt that this was pre-planned as the police and ready made termination notices were already in position. (Some interesting questions need to be asked about the police involvement. Somebody in GG must be able to call in some pretty big favours with Mr Plod to get this type of response BEFORE any action had taken place……London needs all the police it can get at the moment). The GG staff were all herded into their canteen and held against their wishes. Yep the staff were locked in and not able to leave the building. That is again so against the law that it beggars belief. Then they were sacked by loud hailer and 600 termination notices handed out. But it wasn’t just those who were held captive that were sacked it also applied to those who had the day off or even those who were on holiday. Again the law was completely ignored by those who stood to receive huge bonuses by getting round the TUPE agreements. Yet our police force were assisting in this action.
To whom do these people turn? The police who had assisted in their dismissal? The law is certainly out of reach for these people and also takes years to address any situation. They have families and mortgages just like you and me. They have bills to pay and food to buy today. Not sometime in the future. So they turned to the only people who really care, their families. It just so happened that many of these worked for BA. And they did the only thing that the low paid can do………they stopped working. The militant seized the initiative and BA end up losing £80 million.
There are union hotheads who play politics with peoples lives. BA must get rid of these people. There are many work practises that simply have to change if BA wants to survive: mostly on the ground, some in the air and, god forbid, one or two on our side of the flightdeck door.
But the real culprits in all this are the GG management who acted so illegally and immorally that the social glue that holds us all together simply stopped working. Some of us make our living by flying aeroplanes, some by making sandwiches. But we should all be treated the same. In this case the sandwich makers got treated like slaves from a bygone era. That the ripples that this incident caused should affect the pilots has us all incensed. But if I had been told that LGW pilots had all been sacked whilst Polish pilots took their place then I would also have stopped working. If I was then hounded into a building and locked in by the police to be given a pre-printed notice of termination, then I too would be mighty, mighty pissed.
These poor workers may not be in our company but they are in our community. BA should be calling for heads of the board of GG to swing next to the heads of the union militants at the gallows of 27L.
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People are bleating on about poor pay.
Half these people are not British born but immigrants from the Indian sub-continent.
Whats the average wage in Karachi, I wonder? £20 a month?
Half these people are not British born but immigrants from the Indian sub-continent.
Whats the average wage in Karachi, I wonder? £20 a month?
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People have mentioned "illegal" continually since Thurs, but these so called illicit acts are without direct repercussions, ever more so apparent as this is the 3rd summer of BA discontent. Has anything changed since check in staff walked out in 2003? No. Ironically, you'll find most of those "responsible" for the grounding of the BA fleet now working on overtime rates to get the operation back to normal!!
Basically, this week has outlined that without the labourers (pilots, crew, baggage handlers) an airline and its management are powerless and pretty much doomed - and whether the strike was legal or not bears no relevance as BA cannot sack all those involved as they'd have no operation atall.
Having become informed of GG's work practices maybe BA management are responsible for allowing the situation to get to this point in favour of acute cost cutting!
The recently announced profits were achieved through the back door???
Basically, this week has outlined that without the labourers (pilots, crew, baggage handlers) an airline and its management are powerless and pretty much doomed - and whether the strike was legal or not bears no relevance as BA cannot sack all those involved as they'd have no operation atall.
Having become informed of GG's work practices maybe BA management are responsible for allowing the situation to get to this point in favour of acute cost cutting!
The recently announced profits were achieved through the back door???
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normal_nigel - The people you refer to might well indeed be, as you say, 'immigrants from the Indian sub-continent' but who is to say that they don't hold British passports and / or have a write to vote in British elections and / or that they pay British taxes and / or that live in the UK and have to pay UK prices for accomodation & food, etc. ?!
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Actually, no one's to blame. None of the strikers will be sacked, they simply lose a day's pay and will be asked politely if they'd care not to do that again (if that's all right with them)
I'm sohhhh fed up with the bunch of assholes who run this airline.
Please Willy, I know you're going to ram the bat up my arse next month, but could you spare some for the people who are dragging this once great company into the deep?
I'm losing the will to live
I'll take on the opposition anyday, it's my management I can't beat
I'm sohhhh fed up with the bunch of assholes who run this airline.
Please Willy, I know you're going to ram the bat up my arse next month, but could you spare some for the people who are dragging this once great company into the deep?
I'm losing the will to live
I'll take on the opposition anyday, it's my management I can't beat
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eal401 - this is the 3rd consecutive year that BA has been severely disrupted. So, have the check in staff who walked out in 2003 been punished? No. In fact, most of the baggage and ramp agents from this week's events are now being paid overtime by BA to get the operation back to normal. Oh the irony.
Like I have said in another posting it is becoming apparent that BA's recent profit announcement and acute cost cutting were achieved through the back door, hence GG walking out. So, let's ask whether the cost cutters should be held to task, especially as it has all back fired.
As "The Times" article says, "BA is proud of announcing profits, but at the cost of fast becoming Europe's most unreliable airline".
Same time, same place next year?
Like I have said in another posting it is becoming apparent that BA's recent profit announcement and acute cost cutting were achieved through the back door, hence GG walking out. So, let's ask whether the cost cutters should be held to task, especially as it has all back fired.
As "The Times" article says, "BA is proud of announcing profits, but at the cost of fast becoming Europe's most unreliable airline".
Same time, same place next year?
I've always wondered about the real savings on outsourcing.....seems to me that if it's cheaper to buy in the service, then less money has to get spent. If Joe Soap Ltd offers me the same service for less than I can do it for, I have to ask why, since he's making a profit. Usually, it's because he pays less. You then have to ask about peanuts and monkeys and their reliability.
Pity about the training and CR checks making it so hard to sack these b*****s. I was lucky - there was room on SAS last night.
Pity about the training and CR checks making it so hard to sack these b*****s. I was lucky - there was room on SAS last night.
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Roobarb- I have to ask whether those dragging their heels includes the archaic agreements to which flight and cabin crews work? No doubt, all crew will shout this idea down and refute such claims, but happily allow other departments to be on minimal wages! How did the baggage handlers etc react when cabin crew were on strike in 1997? "Sack the lot" ??? Food for thought.
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Often, the argument for outsourcing is not to save money on the service itself, but to reduce the management overhead (in focus and attention terms) and allow the cocpany to focus on its core business.
Whether it is a valid argument draws many opinions, but I have heard quoted many times as a justification.
I've always wondered about the real savings on outsourcing.....seems to me that if it's cheaper to buy in the service, then less money has to get spent
Whether it is a valid argument draws many opinions, but I have heard quoted many times as a justification.
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On Thursday GG were handing out redundancy notices (that’s the sack) to employees who had worked in some cases for over 30 years in the same job. At the same time they brought in 130 “part time” seasonal workers to cover the operation. This is illegal and immoral.
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Often, the argument for outsourcing is not to save money on the service itself, but to reduce the management overhead (in focus and attention terms) and allow the cocpany to focus on its core business.
I'm slightly surprised that BA seems to have put ALL it's business through this one supplier. It's called being "single sourced". Perhaps they should have had two suppliers to reduce the risk.
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Please Willy, ....but could you spare some for the people who are dragging this once great company into the deep?
Roobarb, sadly I don't think you have any idea of how ruthless and vindicative one individual can be.
"One man's meat, another man's poison!"
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someone briefly mentioned the asian community a few posts ago - having discussed with some BA colleagues we feel this problem has more to do with the large asian workforce employed at LHR. Many family members work for both these companies and live together or close together in local towns. I suggest this walkout has more to do with family members closing ranks, protecting others in the community than the suggested deeper malaise in BA as a whole.
I think this secondary action was totally oyt of order however the GG CEO sounds a total a@se but can anyone else comment on this opinion ???
I think this secondary action was totally oyt of order however the GG CEO sounds a total a@se but can anyone else comment on this opinion ???
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I just wanted to say... there are people to blame in this whole thing.. I for one, am taking no sides with anyone. I can understand where both parties are coming from. I just hope this does not interfere with me maybe getting some of a bonus/profit share which I just missed out on this year, but for sure will be working for tmrw when I go into work in the terminal to face those passengers who will be shouting,abusive at me and my collegues!!!! ....I know my reply may upset some people.... but to be brutally honest... the people who walked dont have to face the people who shout,swear,become abusive etc.... And before anyone comments on the last 2 years of strikes by chk-in etc... I wasnt even employed by BA during those times.
What has happened to GG staff is shocking and people have to answer for it, but to add more insult to injury to an airline that is only now trying to get back on its feet after the last few years, to be honest will help none of us.
All I can say again is, i am taking no sides in this. I just wanted to say how I feel.
Good luck to all of us-GG and BA staff
What has happened to GG staff is shocking and people have to answer for it, but to add more insult to injury to an airline that is only now trying to get back on its feet after the last few years, to be honest will help none of us.
All I can say again is, i am taking no sides in this. I just wanted to say how I feel.
Good luck to all of us-GG and BA staff
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rubberduck - what you say makes perfect sense ... so much so, that The Times made similar comments today, and I'm sure (from contact back in India), that similar action takes place there.
normal nigel - be very careful what you suggest ... I'm sure the people in question immigrated to the UK legally.
Jordan
normal nigel - be very careful what you suggest ... I'm sure the people in question immigrated to the UK legally.
Jordan
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Anyone blaming single sourcing is missing the point. It was not the lack of food that grounded the airline it was the actions of BA's own staff.
The failure to deal with said staff can be blamed on BA's management, especially if they have form.
The failure to deal with said staff can be blamed on BA's management, especially if they have form.