BA acts against three employees

[G-CPTN]

British Airways has started disciplinary proceedings against three shop stewards following August's unofficial strike at Heathrow Airport.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4266776.stm

[HZ123]

BA need to sort out about 3000 idle staff not just 3. BA is recruiting a futher 300 plus ramp agents in the next two years and there is no prize for guessing where a number of them will come from.

[apaddyinuk]

HZ,
Who are these 3000 idle staff???? Only about 1000 walked that day!!! And they were from departments no average joe bloggs would see unless you looked out a window of a plane at the gate!

[Final 3 Greens]

A bit touchy today Paddy?

So only 1,000 walked out on unofficial action and disrupted the airline and the lives of thousands of pax? A real victory then.

[Warwick Hunt]

I think that there was no victory?

BA sold thier in-house catering arm off.

Unions tried to stop it happening then.

GG tried to shaft the TUPE ex BA staff by importing cheap east europe staff.

GG walked, then so did those who were anti sell off within BA.

[Hand Solo]

I assume it was simply an oversight that you haven't mentioned Swissair in your timeline?

Still, they're all sacked now and most of the GG workers won't be getting their jobs back. A great victory for the TGWU. Now if BA would just sack the 3 shop stewards then it might teach the TGWU that they are not above the law.

[apaddyinuk]

Well Im TGWU and I am not in support of what happened, nor were the majority of my colleagues and we were told that our union was not supporting the wildcat action either!

And those who walked off did so as they did not want to work with the temps brought in by GG to load the aircraft as they did not have security checks done!!! I dont agree with what happened but I dont think this should be the excuse for another bash BA thread, at least they are doing something about it by getting to the root of the situation and making an example!

[Jet II]

And those who walked off did so as they did not want to work with the temps brought in by GG to load the aircraft as they did not have security checks done!!!

I don't think thats quite accurate - if they hadn't have had their security checks done they wouldn't have got onto the airport.

In fact I don't believe that any of the actual aircraft caterers and drivers went out, they have continued to work normally throughout this action - the only GG staff that striked were the ones that worked in the factory.

[TURIN]

I don't think that's quite accurate - if they hadn't have had their security checks done they wouldn't have got onto the airport.

You think??????

How do you carry out a CRC on an East European?

You trust the record keeping of these former Soviet bloc countries do you?

I have seen some of my own colleagues lose their jobs due to a minor infringement years ago that the CRC shows up.

You now have people who cannot even speak the language entering the country and working airside with hardly any knowledge of their background!

It will happen across the board.

Let's see who starts to whimper in a couple of years time when cheap East European cabin crew/aircrew/engineers/dispatchers & checkin staff are introduced.

It is already happening with engineering as the aircraft are just flown to the cheapest hangar (I believe Poland is the current choice).

HZ123 There will be more than 3000 idle staff then and it won't just be BA staff that suffer!:mad:

Still feeling self rightious now are we?:mad:

[apaddyinuk]

Jet II, Its true what Turin says you know,
Im Irish and before I moved for my job in the UK I spent 2 years living in the middle East, My criminal record check could only track me for the fortnight I spend in england before I started my job! Fortunately however, they are able to do further checks with my previous airline employers. It also took almost 3 months for my check to be cleared. Id love to know how they gat eastern europeans checked in 48 hours!

Ofcourse, what I said in my previous reply about not wishing to work the ramp with non-checked staff....This was the official excuse given by the BA workers who walked out, it does obviously run a lot deeper then that!

[click]

Let's see who starts to whimper in a couple of years time when cheap East European cabin crew/aircrew/engineers/dispatchers & checkin staff are introduced.

Ain't gonna happen. The mindset is totally different. You'll get the isolated cases but don't look for the lines at the gates.

BTW, let me tell you about how you do a CRC check here in East Buttf@#k Europe. There is no concept of personal privacy, there is no concept of why you are doing a CRC check and there is no real idea of accepted practice. We have refused to have our pilots subjected to the demeaning and unlawful....yes unlawful process. We got ECA and the European Commission involved, we have senators working on this, but unfortunately, here in the police state of Czechia, the coalition of useless communist rejects and the ruling social democrats insist on pushing the CRC check through. Why are we fighting this? Twenty plus questions....detailed CV and BTW list all your contacts outside the police state of Czechia and each trip of over thirty days.

A lot of the FA's handed their questionnaires in and got called in for interviews....here's an example.....an FA married to another EU national (western) was asked whether she knows that the said country produces a lot of terrorists and whether she knows that she may be married to a potential terrorist. Another FA has Chinese as a second language which she studied in University... the secret service interviewed her neighbours, her friends and questioned her about her sexual history. practices and preferences since she spent a lot of time with the orientals. What a crock of shiiite, and this is about to get a lot worse because the commies think that nothing can touch them and they are getting a little too comfortable in their booties......that's how we do a CRC check in the ex commie states. Democracy is apparently on a long holiday here.

[Hand Solo]

Surely everyone knows the CRC is nothing more than a political sop, an attempt to be seen to be doing something? Personally I don't care if an Eastern European has a conviction for jaywalking, unlawful use of chloroform, VAT evasion or any of the countless other ridicluous and unlikely crimes the CRC would throw up. What I want to know is are they going to blow up my aircraft and I haven't seen too many Eastern European jihadis lately.

[apaddyinuk]

Hand Solo said:
I haven't seen too many Eastern European jihadis lately.

What about the moscow subway bombers and the Theatre hostage disaster not to mention the Beslin school disaster last year???? Yes they were of muslim background but a lot of them grew up in russia!

[TURIN]

Ain't gonna happen. The mindset is totally different. You'll get the isolated cases but don't look for the lines at the gates.

That's what the cleaners/caterers & some passenger handling staff said (at a local NW England airport).

The only mindset that matters is the one of the employers. If it's cheap, employ it.

And I do mean 'it'. To the employer you and I are an 'it'. You are not an individual with a life, family and dreams, you are an expendable commodity and don't let anyone tell you any different. :mad:

Up the revollution!:ok:

[bealine]

I don't think that's quite accurate - if they hadn't have had their security checks done they wouldn't have got onto the airport.

Naive thinking in the extreme!

A few months ago, Servisair's baggage handlers were on strike at Gatwick. Continental brought in temprorary baggage handlers from Newark and Houston who [i][b]worked airside without security vetting and without safety equipment (tabards, ear defenders or knee pads) contrary to British regulations!

The Criminal Records check can only be carried out accurately on people who have lived in the UK!

[HZ123]

I seldom agree with handsolo but this time he is spot on. The CR checks are hardly worth the paper they are written on. It has been a costly farce to satisfy the government and earn the CR companys a packet. Any of us working / passsengers that believe we are safer as a result of a CR check are sadly deluded. The latter are entitled to believe it.

Futhermore, we are already seeing a lot of new entrants into cabin crew from the former soviet bloc and if visit regional airports there are a number of ramp staff fromthese areas as well.

[bealine]

I'm afraid I don't agree with HandSolo. If you look at the corruption and mafia operations within the former Eastern bloc (and mafia activities finance terrorism) then, although these guys themselves aren't going to blow up your plane, for the right amount of cash, women or drugs they might very well facilitiate the blowing u of your machine by someone else!!!

[click]

I agree with you TURIN on the rest of your post, and let me elaborate a little bit more. By East European I don't mean anyone from the soviet soyuz. So any of the breakaway republics from the USSR don't count...we also have the ukrainians here as cheap labour and moldavians too.

CSA Czech airlines now employs just over 500 pilots. Due to the rapid expansion over the last couple of years, it makes it difficult to leave the company because you already have a lot of people who have gone through the ranks and now have command. These guys have accomplished what they set out to do and it will be difficult to lure them out of the country to other pastures. The BS is not worth it to them even if the pay is higher. You would have to have a lot better T&C's to get these guys out. The mindset here is to stay put.....as one colleague said a while ago...it smells here, but it's warm.
The Czechs are allergic to changes and will not travel even to the next village in search of a job because 'the state' must provide for transportation'. Where there is none, because the state is broke, then the people remain on pogey and complain. That's Czech nature. Drink beer and complain... beats working:}

Hand Solo, good post. You hit the nail on the head. A certain commonwealth country introduced a firearms registration process a few years ago. To date, several billion dollars down the drain, allegations of slush funds and liberal party dipping into it to finance dubious activities. The aim was to stop the 'cans' from shooting each other on the streets in battle for drug turf. Now, the only result is an increase in 'can' activity, more shootings and the police hopelessly outgunned in street battles.
I see the CRC going the same way. Punish the law abiding and toothless to fight the real McCoy.