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British Airways - CC Industrial Relations & Negotiations

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Old 20th Dec 2009, 18:38
  #6521 (permalink)  
 
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Yes that is my recollection of the SH situation - but it doesn't stop the "we need five minutes for a CAT payment/ chocks by xx to stay on our lucrative ZRH n/stop / yy minutes to lose our linked trip" requests from the cabin crew.
As I said, there will always be an optimist on every plane!

What should happen is that the pilots and cabin have the same roster for the 1, 2, 3 or 4 day trip and stay together
There must have been days that you've been grateful that they don't! I know I have! There's an interesting thing with this idea and it explains why BA have stopped asking about fixed links.

According to one of our managers, security and customs do not like the idea of us staying airside between sectors and mingling with passengers, especially if we haven't been screened by LHR originally. In fact we recently had a reminder that outbound crew should not board the a/c while inbound pax are still on-board. It seems they only accept the pilots doing this because its not advertised. When the idea of us going for a meal break airside was raised it was refused. It may be that fixed links will not be an option at T5 without some changes from other agencies.

Last edited by ottergirl; 20th Dec 2009 at 18:42. Reason: common sense
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Old 20th Dec 2009, 18:42
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Actually, that is what I am getting away from tomorrow for the next 5 months (sabbatical, starting Sydney).

I have some experience mediating these kind of conflicts but never on this scale though. I am sure that very capable mediators can be found. Acas (?) is offering as far as I have understood.
HenkyBaby,
lucky you. Sydney is a great city hope you'll have some fun.
ACARS has left down both the company and the Union already once, I don't have much faith in them.
Hope you will have a merry xmas and happy new year.
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Old 20th Dec 2009, 18:53
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From Romans44
out of touch ************************************************** ******
"And contracts are always being revisited and rewritten. That's life and what is happening here. We would all like the changes to be temporary but sadly I doubt that will be an option in these times. The revenue the company earns is in sharp decline and the costs need to be aligned with the market. BA have looked at all areas and decided what is required and achievable by each area, hence different targets this time around - it is about survival of the fittest and still being in the game in 2011."
************************************************** ********
TopBunk, your reply really shows,in my opinion, how out of touch you are with what is really going on.
First of all, allow me to tell you that if BA acted properly we would not be hundred of thousand of pounds out of pocket.
Secondly,in my opion, you would not find a single person in the cabin crew comunity who would be opposed to temporary measures to help the company out of this crisis, on the understanding that 'just like the pilots' they are rewarded once the company is in profit again.

But any changes has to be done properly and start from the top, working all the way down to the bottom.
Not a single department should be singled out for any reasons.
The higher earner you are the more your contribution should be.
it should be as simple as that....
lets be united on this and lets show the company that we us pilots and cabin crew can work together and support each other just like we do when onboard an aircraft.
safe flying
The above was your first post in June, nothing more until Dec 18th, now the count is 50+?

BASSA put-up merchant/hardliner or what?

Whatever is the case, you still haven't earned the art of reading and listening.
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Old 20th Dec 2009, 18:54
  #6524 (permalink)  
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Hi Human Factor
I find that hard to believe but I don't know so I shall take your word for it.
It hasn't been especially well publicised. The proof will be the rapidity of an agreement after the cabin crew have been sorted out.

To comment on the quoted post above:

Not a single department should be singled out for any reasons.
Why not? If a particular department needs to make more of a contribution than another, so be it.

The higher earner you are the more your contribution should be.
it should be as simple as that....
Interestingly, an across the board percentage paycut would do exactly that. However some departments chose a mix of pay and productivity to make their savings.
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Old 20th Dec 2009, 18:59
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ACAS can't do anything if one or both sides will not concede anything.

In BA's case, it cannot remove imposition, because it cannot afford to (reminder: it is losing around 50 million a month) and it no longer has the staff, having released them through VR.

BASSA could afford to continue working under imposition, but refuses to.

BA is fighting for its survival. If it dies, BASSA does too.

I would think that mere fact alone would concern BASSA members enough to demand explanation for their leaders' actions. (At the very least I'd ask why Malone can prove herself to be so incompetent and still come out of it smelling of roses).

But apparently, it isn't.

I can't see anyone can mediate when one side can't move and the other one won't.

Seems to me this is the root of the problem.
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Old 20th Dec 2009, 19:06
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No I don't but I have some reliable sources in the building with the river
Hi Human Factor,
to be honest, if you are quoting someone else, I would take that information with a pintch of salt.
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Old 20th Dec 2009, 19:11
  #6527 (permalink)  
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Suit yourself. Just of interest, the "R" in PPrune stands for "Rumour".
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Old 20th Dec 2009, 19:12
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wobble2blank, your post put a smile on my face.
Do you actually believe that BALPA would allow BASSA to do that...How naive of you.
BALPA allow BASSA to do what? BALPA engineered some conditions to the pilots agreement as they knew that by, once again, leading from the front their membership could and would get shafted by the 'standard' Unionistic tub thumping of BASSA holding the 'strike action' gun to BA's head and getting off lightly again.

Hence the full BALPA agreement only comes permanently into force when all departments and the CC achieve their departmental savings as well.

There will be a review in, I believe, April to see whether the full savings package can be signed off. Until then it is still temporary and fully ratified/agreed by the Company.

So, what was that about how to negotiate?
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Old 20th Dec 2009, 19:15
  #6529 (permalink)  
 
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if you are quoting someone else, I would take that information with a pintch of salt.
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There is a huge problem with that standpoint as very few people know from direct experience what has gone on in other places. When a trusted friend tells you something has happened you believe - you filter it though, based on your knowledge of your friend's character, so to paraphrase, you take it with a pinch of salt. However, when your union (or BA depending upon which side of the divide you are on this) tells you things they instantly become gospel truth.

We ALL rely on reported facts to gain a worldview, if your source is reliable that's good enough. One simply cannot go purely on knowledge gained from personal experience - for instance, how many people were in court last week? - yet we all know that the BASSA ballot was ruled illegal due to irregularities in the ballot and the actions of Lizanne Malone.
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Old 20th Dec 2009, 19:26
  #6530 (permalink)  
 
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BASSA could afford to continue working under imposition, but refuses to.

BA is fighting for its survival. If it dies, BASSA does too.

I would think that mere fact alone would concern BASSA members enough to demand explanation for their leaders' actions. (At the very least I'd ask why Malone can prove herself to be so incompetent and still come out of it smelling of roses).

But apparently, it isn't.

I can't see anyone can mediate when one side can't move and the other one won't.

Seems to me this is the root of the problem.[/quote
]
Desertia,
I am pretty sure that if the company removed the imposition tomorrow BASSA would not expect things to return to normal overnight.
As I said in previous posts, there are ways of going around it, especially as the winter schedule is coming.
I truly believe that, were there is a will there is a way.
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Old 20th Dec 2009, 19:34
  #6531 (permalink)  
 
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Lizanne (ALONE) was getting quite a bit of stick from some cabin crew in CRC today it was quite amusing they were calling her for everything i was surprised to hear them talk about her in that way .It's not all rosie on planet BASSA.
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Old 20th Dec 2009, 19:48
  #6532 (permalink)  
 
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I take it that most BA crew knew the pay, terms and conditions before taking the job.

And that if salaries and benefits are going south there is nothing preventing them from getting a job with a more generous employeer ?

I've taken a 10% pay cut in my job, benefits have reduced it by a further 20% at least. In these hard-pressed times I like to think I am doing my bit for our UK economy. I don;t like it, I don't agree it, so I plan to work for another company shortly.

I dbout I'll take it out on our customers though, because without them I won';t get any pay or benefits at all next month.

Walsh couldn;t manage his way to end of a corridor, we all know that, just look at the state of EI, his last 'success;.

But you know what guys...Just get back to work....! because you';ve lost public confidence in your cause and you're screwed. The company will very lucky to recover and survice at all following this fisasco.
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Old 20th Dec 2009, 20:01
  #6533 (permalink)  
 
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She's off again

And Lizanne's rather unique take on the matter.

BASSA > Latest News

So what happened?

Dec 20th, 2009 by admin


Firstly, we need to clearly state that the legal injunction received by British Airways was absolutely and categorically nothing to do with the legality of the issues over which the ballot was held, the length of the action called, or the strength of your vote.

The pilots attempted industrial action was injuncted over the issues that they had chosen to ballot over - ours was not.

It was obtained by exploiting a legal loophole by a judge who was willing to allow, what is in essence a technicality, to push the balance of the law even further towards an employer that without conscience, was willing to use it.

The law is designed to make it as hard as possible for ordinary people to take industrial action; this ruling has made it even harder.

It stemmed from a new and far reaching interpretation around the balloting procedure; the union is required to provide British Airways a list of every single person it intends to ballot for action and then later, a further list of those who would take part in any subsequent action.

This task is always difficult, as many people don’t keep their details, address etcetera up to date on our records, and any discrepancy, believe it or not, is potential grounds for a challenge. However, this particular ballot was made even more difficult due to the fact that approximately 800 people were taking severance during the actual ballot. The union had no way of knowing who these people were and when/if they had decided to accept their offers and leave.

British Airways declined to provide that information.

Legal advice indicated that as they were employed at the time of the ballot and as their leaving date/offer was not guaranteed, they were entitled to vote; therefore excluding them could, in itself, be grounds for a legal challenge.

Our QC - one of the most respected experts in industrial law - was confident that the inclusion or indeed exclusion, had not affected the ballot in any significant way; after all, the disputed number was only some 800 people and over 9514 people had supported the yes vote, with just 772 voting no - a 92.49% unequivocal vote.

On top of that, the union had worked very hard to ensure that our lists were as accurate as possible, given that is was an almost impossible task to individually identify these people.

This judgement created a previously unheard of interpretation and thus set a dangerous precedent for all ordinary people - the basic human right to withdraw your labour to protest against the way an employer is treating you, has suffered a massive blow. In a supposed free country, the establishment eroded our rights a little bit further.

It was recognised by many of the more intelligent press, even if they had opposed the strike, as a blow against democracy.

Virtually all of the media’s own legal correspondents universally agreed that BA had no case, yet somehow they won; most experts were astonished.

How was it for you?

Not good we would imagine. British Airways unleashed and conspired with the more sensational elements of the press, to unleash a media feeding frenzy upon its own cabin crew. Our own management was content to sit back and destroy the reputation and good standing of its own public face - its own cabin crew. The fact that this was ultimately also destroying British Airways - as to most people, cabin crew are British Airways - seemed to have escaped them entirely.

The vilification that crew suffered was simply outrageous; most of it deliberately induced and inspired by our own management who were more than willing to publish misleading and inflated salaries and comparisons, to assist and actively encourage this false reporting with an unprecedented “dirty tricks” style campaign.

They helped build a wave of hysterical press reports, which in the end led to crew suffering abuse and assaults on their way to work. They even went so far as to leak personal details to The Daily Mail, in an attempt to smear your Chairperson and other reps. As we warned you in advance that they would, they showed what they really think of crew behind the syrupy “It’s your BA” platitudes.

How ironic that CSDS are threatened with facing serious criminal charges and even could end up in jail if they lose the passenger information list, as it’s covered under “data protection”, and yet at exactly the same time they pass on our personal details to further their own ends. Perhaps they will now also face those same charges themselves.

They say the first casualty of war is truth, and this has proven to be the case.

Many crew were understandably, wounded and hurt by the press reports, but try not to be, it wasn’t personal; they don’t know you as people. These reporters were not interested in right or wrong, but a story, an angle. They would never let the truth get in the way of a good story, the more sensational the better.

It was about a false image, an image provided courtesy of your manager.

Bill Francis offered to “lead us through this” when in reality he had already led us into it.

So No thanks Bill, we’re all better of without you.

Headlines are hurtful, but they are also tomorrow’s chip papers. The Daily Mail berated us and then the next day berated British Airways for running a low cost baggage system and not paying enough overtime!

The Guardian, one of the few papers who grasped the implication of what this was really all about, described the public’s hostility to crew standing up for themselves as

“The ill-informed, acting as cheerleaders in a race to the bottom” and our management as “dangerously reckless”, branding the legal judgement against us as “transparently political”. They alone grasped that this was not about disrupting anyone’s Christmas but a last and desperate gesture from a disillusioned workforce.

Public support would have been nice and we didn’t get it, but remember it’s also very fickle; 12 hours after our strike was called off, we were forgotten, yesterday’s news. Except for us, the issues are not forgotten; they haven’t been solved and we’re still left fighting for our future. If we had received more public support, we doubt it would have changed Mr. Walsh’s intransigence; only we are able to do that.

Willie Walsh is still running this company into the ground, whether the press is interested or not, as we still have families to support and mortgages to pay, we are still very interested.

Negotiation is the only way; imposition does not work. Our day may have been delayed but it will come; we will get our voices heard, either through negotiation or through the ballot - we are still fully prepared for both.

Unite has already notified British Airways of our intention to re-ballot at the beginning of January; the process will be arranged during the Christmas break and database checking will take place, through the night if required. If Mr. Walsh does not take this opportunity, courtesy of the courts, to negotiate and bring about peace, it will again be wasted like so many opportunities before, and our airline will be in the headlines for all the wrong reasons all over again. He has a duty as the CEO of our company to act responsibly and to not jeopardise all our futures to satisfy his own PR about how tough and anti-union he is.

Don’t be disheartened; ordinary people stood up to a bully and faced down a huge corporate machine with millions at its disposal; they threw every dirty trick in the book at us. No, we didn’t win but we also didn’t lose; it’s not over until the galley girl sings and as we said before, she hasn’t even warmed up.

As the British Airways “Dirty tricks” machine deemed it appropriate to publish misleading comparisons of our salaries, we wondered if perhaps Bill Francis, Tony McCarthy, James Farren or Sally Munroe-Smith etcetera would do the same with theirs and their equivalents. Or even better, how about Mr Walsh?

Probably not; so as a bit of Christmas cheer, we offer you a comparison of our own.

Barack Obama -
President of The United States

Annual salary $400,000

President of the United States
Leader of the free world
Commander in Chief
Noble peace prize-winner
Charismatic and charming leader
Tall and handsome
Brought hope to millions
Tried to take his people with him during difficult times
Inclusive and gracious
Attempted to remodel America to be a more open, fairer society
Access to healthcare for all, not just the rich
Willie Walsh -
Airline CEO

Times online reports Willie Walsh’s BASIC annual salary as £743,000 or $1,200,945.94

None of the above
Doubt we will see The Daily Mail picking that particular story up!

The anxiety and stress caused to you all needs to stop we need a pause for peace; you need time to recover from all that has happened. After this communication we feel it best to leave you some time and allow you to enjoy time with friends and family, or for the unlucky, even passengers!

Thank you for believing in your union, your courage and strength should be a shining example to others. You are just the best people and it is truly an honour to represent you. Your messages to the reps are gratefully received.

Come the New Year, we will resume the fight to preserve your prosperity; they haven’t beaten us yet and sooner rather than later your voice will be heard, one way or the other.

Negotiation or ballot, the choice rests with Mr. Walsh.

Wherever you find yourself in the world this Christmas, may your God bless both you and your family with peace.

Sincerely,

All of your BASSA and Amicus Reps

IF you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools.....

.... Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And - which is more - you’ll be a Man (BA cabin crew member!), my son

Taken from “If” by Rudyard Kipling
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Old 20th Dec 2009, 20:03
  #6534 (permalink)  
 
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When i first joined the airline BASSA were very strong .There was a realy tough old bird called Janet ,Kit who sadly passed away a few years ago and Tim Lamont Brown.Tim was so good BA bought him off with a Cabin Crew managers job on Tristars.

Times have changed so much but back in those days if BA had imposed anything the union would not have done it.

BASSA is on the way out it has done nothing to stop the current impositions except offer empty promises to crew about getting money back after the court hearing in Feb.
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Old 20th Dec 2009, 20:04
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Oh, and for the hotheads calling for pilots to be reported to BASSA for announcing the court result on the p.a. to passengers a couple of things,

1) It's your union, not ours, and it holds no sway over us. The fact the myth persists you can be punished by your union when you pay them says so much about the deliberately generated mystique that surrounds BASSA.

2) So tell BA instead - do you think for a moment they'll discipline a pilot for passing on news that nigh on every one of our passengers will have been immensely relieved to hear?

So, report away, haven't BASSA got enough on their plate already?
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