NewBee
20th Mar 2002, 13:37
It is unfair to compare Chris Darke to Mark Young.. .When Chris was first standing for the Gen Sec position - one of the main fears of the members was he may turn out to be too left wing and militant . Not quite the way things have turned out!. .Ask any ex Dan Air pilot or F/E and they will tell you how badly Chris performed during that take over. At a meeting of the pilots shortly after the merger Chris was asked directly about the plan by BA to replace the sacked pilots with Kidlington BA cadets - he replied that there was no such plan. The audience gasped at this brazen denial of what was common knowledge.The result was around 200 pilots left Balpa and formed an action group and won for their members significantly more compensation than Balpa did....take note all who are in Balpa for the 'protection' when things hit the fan.. .Likewise in the final court case of Dan Air, Balpa lost because , as the judge said in his ssumming up, Chris Darke had written in the log that the case being pursued by Balpa did not exist !. .A replacement Gen Sec who has the members interest at heart is long overdue - if for the Dan Air fiasco alone, Chris should suffer the same fate as the Dan Air guys - termination..except in his case it will be both legal and with decent compensation.