BA staff walkout @ LHR
 

Just heard on the news ALL BA staff in Terminal 1 at Heathrow have walked out?

Anyone know what's going on?

Quite prepared to admit I'm wrong, but is this is the result of industrial dis-agreement over iARM (Integrated Airport Resource Management)?

For the unitiated, iARM is a project designed to (so the briefing goes) to make better use of the number of airport staff by more accurately working out how many people are needed and when. The GMB union has been particularly anti this project - in fact from what I gather it's the reason there have been no pay increases for the A (Administrative) or IM pay scales this year, as unions and management can't agree.

Whatever the outcome it's the latest in a long line of BA industrial relations fiascos. What with the airline closing cabins and wet leasing due to "social sickness" - a phenomenon I'd never even heard of until this year at BA - among crew, this is another PR disaster for BA.

And I say that with no pleasure - like many others on here, I'm BA staff and a shareholder!

It's true - I don't know any more details but I was talking to a passenger in the Exec lounge when an announcement was made to say that everybody had to leave the lounge and go landside or the police would be called.

I lot of very unhappy passengers.

Scottie Dog

Unofficial strike according to the BBC.

The only info I can find is that it is a unanimous, but unofficial staff walkout. No union involovement, according to the BBC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3078911.stm

Just heard from mate who is in T1 departures waiting for a BA flight and cannot find a single BA ground staff member on the plot. All screens say wait in lounge, no announcements - nothing.

Any info greatly appreciated...

Confirmed on the BBC news at 1724Z. All BA flights from Terminal 1 at LHR have been cancelled for this evening.

No reason supplied but I bet things are getting a little heated among the passengers.

Since this does not appear to be a security issue eg the other company's are continuing to operate from T1 and other BA flights from T4 appear to be continuing I would guess someone has upset the staff......A tug driver with a saussage perhaps?
:confused: :confused: :confused:

According to the news on the radio it is focused on a new scheme where staff have to "Swipe in" to access the terminal.

Excellent, hope we have some spare seats available at bmi to take all those high price biz. class pax.

If this extraordinary news is true, and the BBC website seems to be confirming it, then BA has, at one stroke, lost any right to be considered a credible airline, yet alone its self-styled "world's favourite". What an unbelievable load of prats to allow a situation to arise that ends up treating fare-paying passengers in such an unacceptable way. How ashamed I feel to be associated in any way with such an organisation.

Seloco

Whilst I agree with your sentiments, your target needs to be refocused in the direction of the 'culprits' who work for BA rather than the airline itself; its not the airline but the employees that have done their employer and its customers a major dis-service. I'm sure the airline is even more pissed off than you are. Talk about 'biting the hand' that feeds you??

Anyone with even just 'half an ounce' of common sense would realise that current times in aviation are very difficult for all to compete. Everyone's job is dependant upon their airline making important, strategic and very necessary cost savings; none more so than at BA which for years had the luxury of wallowing in their blissful money squandering. Its a differnet world out there now; dog eat dog. The end result is that these people will have lost their employer valuable customers, which in turn, puts their jobs at risk. Stoopid or what??

JTL, I couldn't agree with you more: I think this action by T1 staff will only strengthen BA's resolve to implement iARM. There are plenty of Aviance's and ServisAirs (or whatever their LHR equivalents are) ready to take over the job at a moment's notice.

And if the iARM conditions are so restrictive, why hasn't T4 been affected? Different Union, different style?..

BA may be a bit obsessed about swiping in and out (qv the EWS wranglings at the mo), but with Q1 figures due out July 31 and expected to be poor, all the profits from the Concorde competition have been (more than?) wiped out by today's action and will indubitably have done more harm than good to the union's (and unions') cause.

Yeah it's true. I am here now and I have never seen LHR T1 so chaotic.

Inbound and outbound cancellations and diversions abound. Hotels around LHR now filling up.

Assume that STN, LGW, BOH, LTN, MAN and even BHX will be chokka tonight.

Yes JTL but isn't it always the front line troops that have to tighten their belts and become more cost efficient whilst the fat cats remain grossly incompetent and get fatter!

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the dispute, for BA staff to walk out and leave the customers to fend for themselves is an act of unforgiveable self indulgence, not to mention self destruction. It is only days since the annual summer coincidence of high sickness rates with well known sporting events was raised at their AGM,- and it is a problem which has occured for years. Who suffers?- the customers, the balance sheet and everyones long term job security.

Screwing the weekend travelling plans of the few air travellers left for the survival of the industry is a very destructive protest. There has to be a more sensible way to do business.

Is anyone aware of which airports BA flights have diverted to ??

I think a few have gone into LTN, and a friend in MAN said one of their shuttles returned to MAN.... bit messy for all concerned....

Still..... summer wouldnt be summer without a bit of chaos....

HOORAH...... Bring it on !!!;)

Ground staff must be so fed up....
 

From the previous message:

"Yes JTL but isn't it always the front line troops that have to tighten their belts and become more cost efficient whilst the fat cats remain grossly incompetent and get fatter!"

I think that all the front line staff at LHR, not only BA staff, have been abused and overstretched by the Management for too many years, working in very difficult conditions and under high levels of stress.
Working on the ground at such a busy airport has never been easy and I think that this "walkout" could be the first "spark" of a series of further actions by other employees working on the ground: not only BA. Majority of ground agents at LHR are totally fed up with their working conditions!
Is anybody enough brave to statistically assess this feeling among its own staff in a professional and independent manner?
I doubt.
Management should open a fair dialogue with all staff before introducing any major change to basic working conditions, and I do think this has NOT been done in too many cases.

I do not know this specific case so I might be wrong, but I have heard so many stories of bad management on the ground that I would not be surprised at all if this is another case of tightening the belt of the weakest ring of a large corporation, when this same ring is the one that should be motivated and rewarded before anybody else in the same company.

Does the Management know that these people cannot go home at the end of their shift if a flight is delayed, or I have heard of staff working 12 hours without a break and so on: this is reality, and this reality is kicking back with a vengeance. I might be wrong but I do not think staff would have taken such a drastic action just to have a day off: this is a serious issue and it needs to be sorted before it will be well too late for all.

Nothing against BA, this is a general ground staff problem at LHR.

The future is probably a cheap and inefficient ground handling agent for all carriers. This is what low fares are delivering.

Good luck boys and girls.

Seems like BA staff have forgotten they now live in the real world.
So far 9 diversions into LTN (A319/320s).
Good news for London's Third/Fourth Airport at last!!

Latest news report says 61 outbound flights and 28 inbounds were cancelled. A total of 10,500 pax affected.