British Airways - CC Industrial Relations & Negotiations
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I've just been reading with amazement Ottergirl's deluded flights of fancy comparing herself and her relative remuneration to that of a qualified pilot.
She has perfectly summed up all that is wrong with BA cabin crew - arrogance, an over-inflated sense of their own importance, out of touch with reality, combined with a total lack of finesse and discretion.
Luckily, the days of this dying breed are numbered.
She has perfectly summed up all that is wrong with BA cabin crew - arrogance, an over-inflated sense of their own importance, out of touch with reality, combined with a total lack of finesse and discretion.
Luckily, the days of this dying breed are numbered.
Join Date: Nov 2009
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To all those crew who are intending to strike, please take a minute to read post 105# on the Flyglobespan thread.
That could be happen to us.
Please consider your actions very carefully and how it could jeopardise all our jobs forever and more importantly, our passengers who were relying on us at such an important time of the year.
Going on strike isn't festive spirit.
Once again, if you would like to work over the strike period like myself, Highflyer Clarified, Slidebustle, Golden Ticket, Alexandraa,Tomkins and many others, all you have to do is to log on to My Opportunities on the ESS page and the two requests to work your roster as normal, and to volunteer for any non rostered duties are there.
I'm BA Cabin Crew and the above are my personal views and not those of my employer's.
That could be happen to us.
Please consider your actions very carefully and how it could jeopardise all our jobs forever and more importantly, our passengers who were relying on us at such an important time of the year.
Going on strike isn't festive spirit.
Once again, if you would like to work over the strike period like myself, Highflyer Clarified, Slidebustle, Golden Ticket, Alexandraa,Tomkins and many others, all you have to do is to log on to My Opportunities on the ESS page and the two requests to work your roster as normal, and to volunteer for any non rostered duties are there.
I'm BA Cabin Crew and the above are my personal views and not those of my employer's.
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All crew have been informed !
I don't know who they informed but i don't know ANY crew member that was informed by the company.
The company let crew position to airports all over Europe this afternoon for the Scan ways contract that was to start tomorrow. When we landed we had text messages and missed calls from fellow crew members telling us the company had went into receivership, nothing from the company.
When we contacted the company we were informed that we would have to make our own way home as there was no money available to buy our tickets.
Right now there are crew out in India and Saudi Arabia who have to pay there own flights home.
The directors must have known that this was likely to happen but we were assured that all was well and it was business as usual.
I don't know who they informed but i don't know ANY crew member that was informed by the company.
The company let crew position to airports all over Europe this afternoon for the Scan ways contract that was to start tomorrow. When we landed we had text messages and missed calls from fellow crew members telling us the company had went into receivership, nothing from the company.
When we contacted the company we were informed that we would have to make our own way home as there was no money available to buy our tickets.
Right now there are crew out in India and Saudi Arabia who have to pay there own flights home.
The directors must have known that this was likely to happen but we were assured that all was well and it was business as usual.
Join Date: Feb 2007
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. If you really needed to strike, why on earth do it over Christmas
A strike during this period will cause the most disruption and give the best chance of the airline management caving-in to the demands of the CC.
. If you really needed to strike, why on earth do it over Christmas and risk losing the goodwill of the public?
Affordable inconvenience.
Join Date: Dec 2009
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Pickets
I think the use of pickets during this strike is going to be interesting to say the least. If the pickets are located anywhere easily seen by the public then what will happen is that enraged customers will walk over and start yelling at those on the line. I suspect the things said will be extremely ugly and those picketing best be prepared for a load of verbal abuse. The only option I would see is for the pickets to be located somewhere the public can't see but other airline workers can with the hope they can generate support from that quarter. Although with many BA staff facing layoffs if the airline goes under or is subject to major restructuring I doubt much support will be coming from there too.
I imagine the television coverage on BBC showing picketers being heckled... unless the union manages this carefully it will be yet another nail in the PR coffin. I'm also waiting to see the emergence of 'I voted no' buttons worn by CC who are going to be tired of being heckled by passengers on flights leading up to, and after, the strike.
Where BA management may be about to start taking a hit in public opinion is the delay in putting out a list of canceled flights, refusal to refund discounted tickets early on when there was still a chance to find lower priced tickets, and not having been seen to put anybody else on other air carriers. If by yesterday they had at least announced the flights canceled and started rebooking passengers the first few days of the strike that would have helped them. If they don't start doing that today then we'll see the public and press turn on them.
I imagine the television coverage on BBC showing picketers being heckled... unless the union manages this carefully it will be yet another nail in the PR coffin. I'm also waiting to see the emergence of 'I voted no' buttons worn by CC who are going to be tired of being heckled by passengers on flights leading up to, and after, the strike.
Where BA management may be about to start taking a hit in public opinion is the delay in putting out a list of canceled flights, refusal to refund discounted tickets early on when there was still a chance to find lower priced tickets, and not having been seen to put anybody else on other air carriers. If by yesterday they had at least announced the flights canceled and started rebooking passengers the first few days of the strike that would have helped them. If they don't start doing that today then we'll see the public and press turn on them.
Last edited by mesmeris; 17th Dec 2009 at 05:10.
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Probably the most telling comment from the corporate travel agents link, and only the sheep that voted Yes don't seem to realise how starkly true this is:
Someone should mail this to every single member of Cabin crew and ask them to read it until it sinks in.
We can only hope and pray that it dawns on them before enraged members of the public take their explicable wrath out on them.
I'm sorry that those sensible cabin crew that have nothing to do with this lunatic action will be caught up in the anti-union sentiment the BASSA village idiots have brought upon you.
BA should take advantage of the Copenhagen talks and public feelings and sack Lizzie for having a carbon footprint the size of Greenland, or tell her to relocate to East Grinstead.
“Unite is being very short-sighted. BA is sinking under the weight of its generous pay and benefits and it simply will not survive in its current form if things don't change."
We can only hope and pray that it dawns on them before enraged members of the public take their explicable wrath out on them.
I'm sorry that those sensible cabin crew that have nothing to do with this lunatic action will be caught up in the anti-union sentiment the BASSA village idiots have brought upon you.
BA should take advantage of the Copenhagen talks and public feelings and sack Lizzie for having a carbon footprint the size of Greenland, or tell her to relocate to East Grinstead.
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While the 4x4s queued politely to enter the car park at Sandown Park, members of the Socialist Workers Party offered the cabin crew leaflets calling for a "strike over Christmas to defeat Walsh". The leaflet asserted: "A victory at BA would not only be a triumph for the staff involved, it would also boost workers everywhere."
It concluded: "We need a genuine working-class political alternative."
A week from today, BA cabin crew will find themselves in the unfamiliar position of switching from the First and Club class cabins to the frontline of the class struggle.
This is from the British 'Independent' newspaper today.
I would not have thought that too many BA cabin crew would have considered themselves working class but there we are-know your place in socialist Britain!
It concluded: "We need a genuine working-class political alternative."
A week from today, BA cabin crew will find themselves in the unfamiliar position of switching from the First and Club class cabins to the frontline of the class struggle.
This is from the British 'Independent' newspaper today.
I would not have thought that too many BA cabin crew would have considered themselves working class but there we are-know your place in socialist Britain!
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James Whale has just torn into the Yes voters on Sky News; what was even more amusing was that serially irritating anchor and housewives choice Eamonn Hughes desperately trying to stop him, no doubt because he doesn't want any eyedrops in his coffee on his frequent jaunts back home to Ireland.
I think the only shock and awe from this campaign should be that of the Yes voters at how badly their union have let them down.
Frankly you'd be better off giving the 15 quid to a fighting fund to help the FlyGlobeSpan staff get home from India and Saudi Arabia!
I think the only shock and awe from this campaign should be that of the Yes voters at how badly their union have let them down.
Frankly you'd be better off giving the 15 quid to a fighting fund to help the FlyGlobeSpan staff get home from India and Saudi Arabia!
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mesmeris
I completely agree with the first half of your post.
However, as for;
I don't think that BA can do this whilst the talks are taking place otherwise it would be an admission that they expected both the talks & the court action to fail. I imagine that they both probably will!
However, as for;
Where BA management may be about to start taking a hit in public opinion is the delay in putting out a list of canceled flights, refusal to refund discounted tickets early on when there was still a chance to find lower priced tickets, and not having been seen to put anybody else on other air carriers. If by yesterday they had at least announced the flights canceled and started rebooking passengers the first few days of the strike that would have helped them. If they don't start doing that today then we'll see the public and press turn on them.
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I'm strictly thinking of public reaction and PR. I agree that legally, and from a business standpoint, their strategy of holding off makes sense. But the public is fickle and when people are this angry they are looking for targets.
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mesmeris
Thanks for clarifying that, it's now clear what you were saying.
I feel so sad for those loyal CC like Tiramisu who has already received abuse through no fault of her own. I imagine that the midnight oil was burning late in Bassa's Kremlin as they desparately look for an escape route from this PR disaster, created entirely by their own dirty hands.
I feel so sad for those loyal CC like Tiramisu who has already received abuse through no fault of her own. I imagine that the midnight oil was burning late in Bassa's Kremlin as they desparately look for an escape route from this PR disaster, created entirely by their own dirty hands.
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It appears that BA cabin crew have become even more hated throughout the country than MPs after the expenses row.
Cabin Crew abused on trains, buses, on flights and in the terminals, of course its all WW fault...................... err no its BASSAs fault, they are the ones who got you into this mess.
Although I had to laugh, over on the other forum, freedom of speech has been suspended, crew have been implicitly told that they will not debate anything to do with the fictional work of the arch capitalist, in BAs pocket Daily Mail
Cabin Crew abused on trains, buses, on flights and in the terminals, of course its all WW fault...................... err no its BASSAs fault, they are the ones who got you into this mess.
Although I had to laugh, over on the other forum, freedom of speech has been suspended, crew have been implicitly told that they will not debate anything to do with the fictional work of the arch capitalist, in BAs pocket Daily Mail
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I voted no....
I wonder once the dust has settled from all this how many crew will actually admit to voting yes. Fully expect conversations on the aircraft along the lines of
"well I voted no, of course..."
Next time, ask your reps what they intend to do with your vote before you decide.
"well I voted no, of course..."
Next time, ask your reps what they intend to do with your vote before you decide.
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BA staff: we got it wrong over strike - Home News, UK - The Independent
Two telling quotes that illustrate the lemming-like attitude of union members
Aaaaargh.....
Two telling quotes that illustrate the lemming-like attitude of union members
"The public backlash is already enormous and, like it or not, Walsh will play on that [but] many crew will listen to what's on TV and start thinking the same. This will be my third time on strike and I am always with the union, but I have a horrible feeling they may have got this one wrong. I will strike regardless, of course."
"Twelve days over the Christmas period was a step too far. I certainly wasn't aware that in voting to strike it would be 12 days and I have to say I was shocked. I will of course fulfil my decision to strike but I feel physically sick at the thought."
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It is truly amazing that this ridiculous situation is being allowed to fester. The fact is that the union BASSA, more than Unite, have created a monster. Worse, they are living in the past. They are using all the rhetoric of the 70's used by those 'leaders' who also led their 'brothers and sisters' to destruction. You have one from Unite who says that the strike 'is over the top' and one from BASSA stirring their ill begotten pot at the expense of the cabin crews. It is madness.
What is also ridiculous is seeing a line of union top dogs all in a row, with all the little puppies sitting alongside playing the crowd, and the disgusting jubilation of the 'audience' hooting and shouting in support of the result. What result? The one they 'persuaded' you to give up your job!? Then, apparently, not realising that the back handed plan all along was to strike over Christmas. That was one HUGE mistake.
So, now the CC's have a choice. Join the working class of the 70's and make the union's day, or be like pickets of the past who were encouraged by union stirrers and made to look stupid. Surely you are better than that. Much respected boys and girls do not do that, do they? In effect you have given away your self respect. And to see you acting like coalminers, car workers, and stevedores would be a terrible sight. You will never live it down.
And for what? A bunch of union reps who are up for a fight at your expense. You are well paid, you work for the best airline, and heaven forbid you turn into it the worst one. Working a bit harder is not a high price to pay but it will help the airline out in its need to cut costs. Better yet, you will still have a job.
You have been mis-led and conned into a strike you did not envisage and it is not too late to let the airline know that you will be in for work.
Make no mistake BASSA have done you no favours. Remember, you are 'brothers and sisters' to each other not to BASSA.
What is also ridiculous is seeing a line of union top dogs all in a row, with all the little puppies sitting alongside playing the crowd, and the disgusting jubilation of the 'audience' hooting and shouting in support of the result. What result? The one they 'persuaded' you to give up your job!? Then, apparently, not realising that the back handed plan all along was to strike over Christmas. That was one HUGE mistake.
So, now the CC's have a choice. Join the working class of the 70's and make the union's day, or be like pickets of the past who were encouraged by union stirrers and made to look stupid. Surely you are better than that. Much respected boys and girls do not do that, do they? In effect you have given away your self respect. And to see you acting like coalminers, car workers, and stevedores would be a terrible sight. You will never live it down.
And for what? A bunch of union reps who are up for a fight at your expense. You are well paid, you work for the best airline, and heaven forbid you turn into it the worst one. Working a bit harder is not a high price to pay but it will help the airline out in its need to cut costs. Better yet, you will still have a job.
You have been mis-led and conned into a strike you did not envisage and it is not too late to let the airline know that you will be in for work.
Make no mistake BASSA have done you no favours. Remember, you are 'brothers and sisters' to each other not to BASSA.
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Those of you who intend to work - may I ask what the view is about how many intend to do the same as you? What your gut feeling is about that? Hard to quantify I know, but I'm just wondering if you're representative of the wider group or not.
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WEATHER
Let's hope that the forecast snow doesn't give Bassa yet another excuse to disrupt the schedules.
I'd appreciate an LHR TAF when one becomes available for tonight/ Friday am. Please PM it. Thanks
I'd appreciate an LHR TAF when one becomes available for tonight/ Friday am. Please PM it. Thanks