Possible Monarch CC Strike

[Tiger]

Being reported on BBC news website Monarch Cabin Crew aren`t happy either.


Airline staff ballot over strike

A holiday operator faces strike action at the height of the summer season as the Unite union prepares to ballot more than 600 cabin crew over pay.

A ballot will be held in July which could see Monarch Holidays staff walk out at Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Luton and Dublin.

Brian Boyd, of Unite, said: "The firm faces a crippling strike at the height of the holiday season."

Monarch said rises were "unachievable" in the economic situation they faced.

The union wants the airline to pay a lump sum to its members instead of giving them a pay rise, which it says they are prepared to defer until next year.

It also wants the airline to pay cabin crew an extra allowance while they are in the air, similar to one currently paid to pilots.

Pay talks

Mr Boyd said: "The requests of our members are reasonable and are in line with similar negotiations with other industry operators.

"They represent a practical compromise given the prevailing circumstances.

"There is no doubt the aviation sector is experiencing difficult times, all the more reason for Monarch to work with Unite to find a practical solution to this dispute."

A company spokesman said: "Monarch Airlines confirms that it is currently in discussion with the cabin crew trade union regarding pay and benefits for its cabin crew.

"Given the current economic situation and its impact on the aviation industry, pay increases and additional benefits for employees are unachievable at the present time.

"Monarch senior management continues to work with the cabin crew trade union to resolve this matter as quickly as possible in the interests of its customers and all other employees."

[Easy Ryder]

In the current climate the timing couldn't be any more inappropriate. Nice one Boyd its already hard times, now we can chase a few more customers away. :rolleyes:

How about, lets make sure we all have jobs and when things pick up fight the battle then.

[leisurelad]

I'm with you on this one Easy Rider, i think they should all be grateful that they still have a job.

Forget pay increases and making out how hard done by they are, if it's really that bad, try going out into the world and find a job thats better because there certainly isn't much with aviation and travel !!

Ride the storm and when things return to normal(ish) levels again, then ask.

I myself not long ago had the option to either be made redundant or take a £200 pay drop for 6mths. i'd rather have the pay drop than be out on the streets.

[mongirl]

How would you all feel if EVERY other department in the compnay got a pay rise but you? This was the pay increase for last year NOT this year.....
I'm not saying I agree with a striking, far from it, as at the end of the day its the passengers that suffer. Yes of course we are all grateful to have jobs, but why should everyone else get pay rises but the crew?? Surely everyone in the company works together to get and a/c away, therefore it should be all or no one to get a rise?? X

[nilcostoptionmyass]

Who gave Unite the authorisation to go to the press ?,

be very careful here, it looks very much like you are being used as a 'tester', if it all goes wrong, hey, only 600 members out of a union of thousands, NHS / Tescos etc, but if you get a 'deal', isn't this union fantastic.

No one in there right mind would try and negotiate a pay rise in this climate.

I have every sympathy with you, but wait untill the good times return, and the union....... idiots.:ugh:

[dalmation67]

Hi Guys,

Being an Ex Flyer myself as Cabin Crew, I have to say I wouldn't hold my breath with regards to 'Unite the Union', in the 16 years that I paid subscriptions to them I felt that it was a total waste of money.

Yes the Reps will huff and puff and make the right sounds to make everyone think that they are fighting for you but true to form nothing will come of it...........

As for getting a Pay Rise it is historically always C/C that are overlooked or get the raw deal, unlike our colleagues in the pointy bit at the front. Have to agree with a few comments that in current climate not really a good time to be threatening strike action as Customers will look elsewhere!:)

Good Luck though hope you get a positive result!

[BlueTui]

Dalmation,

To a certain degree you are right, the guys and girls at the pointy end do get a better deal generally. But Unite are not totally useless as you paint them to be, take a look at the Thomson Airways Unite branch, we have some working agreements with the company that the pilots would kill for, including only working 4 days a week maximium even the pilots are forced to work more duties between days off.

I do think Monarchs union has picked the wrong time to start a fight, people are putting off buying holidays till around now and this will sit very heavy in their mind.

[girtbar]

Unite can't be that bad a Union, the EasyJet CC just got a 5.5% pay increase!

Airlines like Monarch, Jet2 etc are doing surprisingly well in this "current climate".

It never surprises me that CC are so quick to demean themselves out of a payraise or any increase in their T&C's. No wonder the entire CC community is viewed as a walk over by management.

I don't necessarily agree with Strike action but if every other department is getting a rise then why not the coal face, the very part of Monarch that makes or breaks it with the fare paying punters??

The Union are doing the right thing by balloting its members. If its members want to go on Strike then the Union would only go on strike if their members want it. So i don't think shouting at the Union is fair its the membership that will end up either going on strike or not.

[Virginia]

Reading the anti Monarch crew comments on here is rather like reading the comments by Daily Mail readers about this story over on their website. :rolleyes:

[A and C]

I would be rather reluctent to strike at the moment with the economic climate as it is, Monarch employees may not have had a pay increase in the last year but they are far better off than the employees is XL who have had a 100% pay decrease!

[Ten West]

Looks like we'll be having a busy summer of sub-charters then! :ok:

[Easy Ryder]

Doubt it, out of 1300 cabin crew 600 are in the union. And only a small percentage of those would vote for a strike in these times....

[inkyponk]

Ok, so maybe the crew haven't got a pay increase, but at least the majority who are complaining have a permanent contract and don't have to worry about finding another job to cover the winter come October............AGAIN

[Rushed Approach]

The ground staff are all on a pay freeze and have not had a pay rise either and the Pilots flight pay was part of a three year deal. The pilots got no pensionable (RPI related) rise either.

What exactly do the cabin crew want? Do any of them even know? This press release is utter madness.

[AirCrewBoi84]

I can’t believe this is even on the cards right now what with the current climate being as it is :ugh:

In my opinion we should all be lucky we have jobs!!!!

[nilcostoptionmyass]

It isnt on the cards right now, its not being discussed at all, most had no idea untill they saw the press release, the union seem to have their own agenda, has anyone been balloted for anything ?

It is scandalous that a professional union can just 'make the news' when in reality they have no support, these idiots will wander what happened when they put everyone out of work....

[lowcostdolly]

I'm not Monarch crew and have no idea what the T&C's are like for them. This thread has really got me cross on behalf of all crew so my post is not a pop at Monarch crew :). Any airline management will try the "divide and conquer" approach and it's alive and well here

Rushed Approach is right. The press release was utter madness. In these fragile times why scare the SLF into other airlines? What Mr Boyd should have done was quietly ballot his Monarch members and then go to management with the results. Poor timing? Well when would be the right time then? This recession and recovery is expected to last for years. Are CC going to wait for years to claim a well deserved payrise?

Of all of you whinging about UNITE on this thread how many of you have approached UNITE direct now and said withdraw from the pay negotiations? :hmm: thourght so! When he does negotiate something for you (and he will) how many of you are going to refuse it and that includes the non members who will benefit as well.

So we are grateful to have jobs? Well wake up peeps!! We are in the middle of a recession....everyone is grateful to have a job and that includes our managers.They are really grateful for their bonuses as well :oh:. They get these because the SLF keep boarding our flights and the reason they keep boardfing is because of us....the CC, the face of any company.

We are professionals in our own right just as our friends at the pointy end are. Granted we do not have the knowledge and technical skills they do but we have others that our managers cannot do without either. Would you see a Pilot (apart from an FR pilot) say don't bother abour feeding us or our pay because we are just grateful for a job....no! They value their profession and so should we. If we don't you can be sure our managers won't.

I'm with Girtbar on this one because it affects every CC not just Monarch. If we go to work with doormat written all over us then management will walk all over us :eek:

Best of luck to all of you at Monarch :ok:

[partyboy_uk]

The press release was utter madness. In these fragile times why scare the SLF into other airlines? What Mr Boyd should have done was quietly ballot his Monarch members and then go to management with the resultsThat wouldn't really have much effect though if the cabin crew vote against strike action would it? No, it was important for the Union to display its ability to affect the business, even without a vote. A press release that says "The firm faces a crippling strike at the height of the holiday season," has the ability to do just that.

the reason they [the passengers] keep boarding is because of us....the CC, the face of any companyAs much as I would like this to be true, I am afraid that is not really the case. Passengers rarely "keep boarding" because of crew but rather because of cost, convenience and marketing. I have never heard anyone say that they travel with a particular airline because they like the cabin crew.

They value their profession and so should we.I am guessing you mean that just as pilots value their profession so we should value ours. It is because I value my profession that I don't want a strike. Any such action could do a great deal of harm to the company and take me out of my chosen profession, without much prospect of seeing it again in the near future.

...it affects every CC not just Monarch. If we go to work with doormat written all over us then management will walk all over usIt is not right to propose cabin crew at Monarch risk their livelihoods on a matter of principal because support for a strike may well result in doing exactly that.

[CEJM]

That wouldn't really have much effect though if the cabin crew vote against strike action would it? No, it was important for the Union to display its ability to affect the business, even without a vote. A press release that says "The firm faces a crippling strike at the height of the holiday season," has the ability to do just that.

Partyboy, this press release has the potential of a massive impact on the company. Hence it is a ridiculous thing to do so early on.

How do you think the cabin crew look like when they now vote against a strike or even worse (more likely) don't have enough members to legally go on strike?

A press release is something the company doesn't want and therefore is an very good negotiating tool. But this means that the union can threaten the company to make a press release.

Times at the moment are tough and because of the press release we will loose some business. The company will use this against you!!

Would have been a lot smarter if the union first balloted its members instead of pushing out this press release with nothing to back it up.

I know what the dispute is about and in a certain way you have my support. However your union is doing things the wrong way around and in the end it will come and haunt you.

[BYALPHAINDIA]

Quote
I can’t believe this is even on the cards right now what with the current climate being as it is :ugh:

In my opinion we should all be lucky we have jobs!!!!


Reply
No = the saying the = 'Current' climate is 'Maybe' an excuse for the 'MON' management to not give it's 'Hardworking' CC and staff a well deserved payrise?

MON 'MUST' have enough Finances in their accounts to cover well desreved payrises etc?

Lets be right, They have been in the trade since the 1960's!!

If MON are not making enough profit, Then that is not the CC's department of concern?

I bet the Board of directors change their cars again this year thou....Hum??

I don't know what the solution is??

Good Luck Anyway.

[al446]

I am a Steward with another union, Unison. Could I humbly suggest that those non-MON CC continue their speculation etc on here and actual MON CC take this to their private forum so that it is all out of the way of management/press eyes. There are very good reasons that certain union meetings happen behind closed doors and this is a prime case. You know it makes sense.

[6chimes]

Could this possibly have something to do with flight allowances? Are MON being looked at by the tax man? This is obviously something that the vast majority of SLF know nothing about. Are people aware how much money cabin crew across the entire UK industry stand to loose?

6

[TightSlot]

Could I humbly suggest that those non-MON CC continue their speculation etc on here and actual MON CC take this to their private forum so that it is all out of the way of management/press eyes. There are very good reasons that certain union meetings happen behind closed doors and this is a prime case.

Presumably, these are the same reasons that British MP's used to justify the secrecy obscuring their own abuses of the system. Everything is so much less complicated when the public can't see what is really happening and it's all behind closed doors.

I hold no brief for either side in this dispute, but if anybody believes for a second that a union can publish a press release to the public and then attempt to stifle public discussion, then they need to think again.

[Whiskey Zulu]

There will not be a strike! Seems the Unite union reps have released this to the press 'without' the knowledge or support of the vast majority of MON cabin crew. :mad:

[al446]

Like yourself, I hold no brief for either side. If you look back to my OP I stated as much. Much like I have read in other posts when speculation has been running on a particular subject such as causes of incidents etc others have urged caution lest the press take it and run to the detriment of all. I would agree that union meetings/discussions be held in public if the deliberations of management were held in a similar manner. I don't fully understand where you are coming from in bringing up what MPs used to do, that is surely using an example of bygone practices to justify ongoing practices.
I did not seek to stifle public discussion -
Could I humbly suggest that those non-MON CC continue their speculation etc on here

I simply suggested that MON CC would better serve their discussion by taking it to their private, closed, forum. I actually think that was quite balanced.

The corollary of your argument, as I see it, is that ALL private forums are opened, or do I misunderstand you?