pitchlink
25th Feb 2000, 01:12
With the pilot workforce on the North Sea being at its lowest ebb, and a shortage af suitably qualified pilots, is it not about time that BALPA started to represent their members and earn their subscription. Instead they seem to be taking our money and not doing a lot for it.
I am sure that if members were asked for some sort of action at the present time they would get it!!!!
Aerospit
27th Feb 2000, 19:38
I certainly take your point, but I think that even if BALPA took a ballot for industrial action, it probably wouldn't happen. Why?
1. Those who have been in the industry along time would be most in favour because they have seen their salaries and conditions eroded. However, there are many in BALPA who are only in it for legal backup. In my company there are many long serving Captains who whinge and moan about pay and conditions and demand exceesive pay rises whenever the topic is raised, yet they are often the first to come in to work for overtime, or volunteer to go offshore for a pittance. To my mind this defeats the object when BALPA and others are trying to improve overtime payments or offshore payments.
2. There are many new pilots in all the (sorry, both) the North Sea Offshore companies. They are keen, new to the industry and want to get on. Many do not even have plans to stay in the industry for more than a few years and go on to fly plank wings. They are unsure of going for any sort of action because they do not want to be seen as trouble-makers. On top of that they think they are on a good salary as well.
BALPA still has to work very hard to even achieve some form of professional relationship with management. To go for industrial action in the period where certainly one company has only just recognised the union and in the other where over half the pilots are still wary about admitting that they belong to BALPA, would be extremely difficult.
Surely the way forward at the moment is to get this professional relationship going. The cynics will no doubt say that it hasn't worked so far, so why should it in the future? I have some sympathy with that argument, however, the union is now recognised in both compainies. Before destroying any credibitlity with managements that are very wary of unions and do not like them, surely the way forward initially is to try and gain some trust.
When that doesn't work, and everybody can be shown that it doesn't wotk, then you may get more pilots agreeing to industrial action.