British Airways - CC Industrial Relations Mk VI

[Diplome]

Neptunus Rex:

Yes, Unite have met with authorities regarding picketing sites.

The following article provides a bit more information on the subject.

British Airways strikers face terminal five ban | Business | The Guardian

[The Blu Riband]

If after this strike WW goes for another 30 M savings because of the costs, then these are directly due to the "YES" voters and if they lose allowances/pay, they should accept it is due to their actions and not a vindictive employer.

Whilst I am sure many crew voted without serious consideration to all the consequences, and without fully knowing or understanding all the issues; I could not condemn any of them for re-considering at the last minute.

It is too easy for crew to simply go along with the general feeling of their friends / crewmates / galleyfm. And most crew can vote safe in the knowledge that they won't be there on day 1.

Those crew who are due to report tomorrow are surely very worried , and may well be regretting their yes vote. Some attitudes have hardened undoubtedly, but any intelligent and open-minded person can see that BA has acted reasonably and with considerable patience.
Many crew are very uncomfortable with the level of aggression the militants are displaying, and may - finally - see through some of Bassa's many misrepresentations and lies. They want to negotiate!!!

The threats of radical change of working conditions and pay have only come from Bassa .

There is no reason why someone should not change their view.
One look at Woodley or McClusky's face must make them wonder what the hell they have got themselves into.

There has also been much talk of "crossing the picket line" and the attendant intimidation.
Clearly there is actually NO risk of that actually happening, so many "meeker" crew may feel emboldened to work.

[PaddyMiguel]

Indeed we do, wiggy

And lest anyone think that all journos are pro BA and anti BASSA here's Mark Steel in the Independent:

The strange part is that BA cabin crews don't generally come across as the selfish wrecking thugs they're now portrayed as. They mostly smile and bring you stuff, so why would 80 per cent of them vote twice for a strike? Perhaps it's because the company wants to bring in new staff on inferior terms to those offered to current employees, with less security and lower wages than the current basic rate of £18,000.
The most common response to this complaint is the current terms can't go on, because Easyjet and Ryanair pay their staff much less. And it's not fair if some people are being treated horribly, so the answer is to treat everyone horribly and then no one feels bad. Maybe charities should work like this. Oxfam could go to Mozambique and say, "So you're living on a bowl of rice a day are you? Well in Somalia they're living on half a bowl of rice a day, so we're taking half your rice away you greedy pigs."

[Diplome]

Paddy:

An interesting post, but am I the only one rather admiring Unite and how they have managed to deflect from the stated reason for this strike..and that is the initial imposition of one down?

No wage reduction requested, voluntary reduction in staff.

I'll give them kudos for the redirection.

[tb10er]

so, the strike is now one, one nil to WW!

[lord mash]

good luck to all cabin crew be you striking or working

[Middy]

And good luck to all the volunteer cabin crew........ welcome to our world !

[just an observer]

There was a comment from someone yesterday that said BA's orignal offer included no New Fleet, as well as one down and changes to the disruption agreements, and shares like the pilots. Is that correct? No one came on to call him/her on it. If so, New Fleet need not have been an issue.

My own thoughts, before I saw that, was that they, BASSA, should have bargained around one down in order to get cast iron agreements on pay/promotions/allowances/flights transferred to new fleet for legacy crew when New Fleet came in. That's what bargaining is about - give on one thing, get something else in return. One down can't be that bad if they do it at LGW.

As to voting for a strike, if you give your loyalty to the union, you deserve to have that loyalty repaid by constructive negotiating, if they don't do that, you can take back your yes vote.

[HiFlyer14]

The Yes Vote Debate

however IMO, you were rather effusive in your praise of DCW compared to the general impressions I have gained from your earlier posts. It must be evident that there comes a time when people must be prepared to take responsibility for their actions.

Alpineskier - I have always laid the blame squarely at Unite's door. And I still do.

If you haven't lived and breathed this whole rotten saga like we have for the past 4-5 years (yes FIVE years because we were in this same predicament 3 yrs ago) then you cannot possibly understand.

Cabin crew pay (or in many cases paid) £15 per month in Union subscription fees. We pay for the Union to protect our jobs and our interests at work. So when the union say "your job is under threat" "you will lose money" "you will be sat at home, while New Fleet do the work" etc., why would/should us cabin crew not believe them? It's a bit like an insurance policy - you don't expect to have to do all the research etc yourself. So, the majority didn't. They accepted what the Union said, and voted, AS RECOMMENDED by the Union, yes. I dare say that if the extension had been taken last Friday and the offer put to a ballot, it may well have still been rejected, because THAT IS WHAT THE UNION RECOMMENDED.

Many yes voters did not for one minute think that they would be sat here today, the eve of a strike, wondering whether they should go to work or cross a picket line. Because the Union told them they were sending WW a message - we've all seen the now infamous clip of Len McMixedMessages shouting it out on the telly often enough.

It is a HUGELY frightening decision for every single crew member at BA.

Something else the Union didn't tell it's members is that when push comes to shove, there will only be a small MINORITY that will have to walk the walk for the benefit of the majority. Why? Well we don't work in an office, factory, etc where everyone clocks in at the same time. So tomorrow morning when the birds are still asleep and the first 5 oclock bus leaves the car park, there will only be a few poor souls ROSTERED TO REPORT for duty. So the onus is all on them. And Unite have done nothing to alleviate that pressure. Because if those poor people don't report for work and get sacked/new contract/whatever - you can bet your bottom dollar there will be a flurry of activity so that the next wave of people WILL report.

This despicable mess is the blame of Unite and Unite alone. People are not eating, not sleeping, have been in tears etc. And it is a disgrace on our hard-working cabin crew community that this heavily funded Union has done this to them.

This is my view and not that of BA.

[DarkStar]

Truly a sad day for BA. BASSA have blundered into this and now the militants will row what they've been sowing for months.

I wish all those CC and Volunteer CC all the very best and I'm proud of your support to keep the Airline going and pax flying.

[PaddyMiguel]

Volunteer crew

My memories of the 'Junior Jets', those newly qualified pilots re-deployed as cabin crew a few years ago, were of a bunch of enthusiastic, hard-working, hard playing crew who brought a welcome breath of fresh air into the stale stagnant cabin then populated by Stiltons (blue veined and mature). They were a bit hard to manage at times and seemed to get into all sorts of trouble down route. Once they finally got into the right hand seat however, they epitomised the spirit of CRM. They have huge empathy and understanding for what happens t'other side of the FD door.
Hopefully, this cohort of volunteers will create a similar spirit of co-operation across the airline and be the silver lining to this exceedingly black cloud.

[OpenCirrus619]

Interviews with Walsh and Woodley

Walsh interview (BBC )

Woodley interview (BBC)

Make your own minds up who sounds most convincing.

OC619

[P-T-Gamekeeper]

Just to put the staff travel issue to bed, I was talking with Mrs PTG last night. She is a city employment lawyer. She said the only way that a non-contractual term can become contractual is by inferred custom and practice. However, C & P cannot overturn a stated term of an agreement. So as BA Staff Travel Agreement states that travel can be withdrawn at any time for any reason, it cannot become contractual by C & P, as this would go against a stated term of the contract.

[Timothy Claypole]

Sky News has a letter from Walsh to Woodley effectively saying that if a deal isn't done by June then he'll serve notice on existing crew contracts. Perhaps the waverers should see what happened to the Aer Lingus cabin crew this week.

[sixmilehighclub]

Thats correct PTG. But you may be surprised to learn how many of BA's cabin crew seem to feel the Unions opposite opinion is gospel.

Some unfortunately believe that BA can't make all crew redundant tomorrow and insist on re-applying for crew jobs, with a new title and new terms. Or just close the doors of British Airways and re-ignite as a newly named airline with all original contracts null & void.

Certain ongoing trips exisit with short uk turnarounds for long and shorthaul crew. Text messages have been sent out to all crew today by BASSA saying the are able to strike half way through their trip when leaving london again. BA have said the opposite.
Those I have spoken to are torn. Give in to the intimidation of their colleagues threats on them if they chose to work, or risk losing their job if they strike and later discover they were striking illegally.
Not a nice atmosphere.

[License to Fly]

very sad ...

I agree

If staff travel is all the strikers lose, I think they will be lucky tomorrow.

The mood Walsh looks in (Re: BBC interview link a few posts ago), the strikers could find themselves dismissed and re-employed on new contracts if they want to come back. Reemploying on new contracts is exactly what Airlingus is going to do if the staff do not agree to new T&C's.

a sad day for everyone tomorrow - those who strike are very brave people when you look at the potential consequences, strikers must really believe that issues are so important to their careers... there will be alot of sleepless nights tonight, especially for anyone who goes to work tomorrow

LTF

[Ruthanne]

The union chose last week to not let their members know about the potential offer on the table, they chose to state the strike dates,
yet knew that they had been asked not to annouce strike dates, that they had been given the extension of the strike mandate, to enable them to ballot their members, they announced the strike dates, the offer was withdrawn which they were told would happen, they have been speaking
for the last three days and again have chose to answer for their members,
its very sad and I really feel for all the cabin crew....because this
really could end up in the worse possible way for them.

I have to say that the CEO of BA came over very well in his interview...not so sure about the other guy

[Juan Tugoh]

Sleepless nights

Unless one voted for strike action without actually believing it meant that you may have to go on strike, with all that entails, I do not see why there should be any worry or sleepless nights over this.

Surely BASSA, as a responsible union has kept its members fully informed throughout the whole process and emphasised when they voted for a strike that they may have to strike. Also that BA may play hardball with the union and its members; that BA have a track record of clever and novel use of the law surrounding strikes - and some very good legal advice. Willie Walsh has never once stated things that he was bluffing about so it is worth listening to what he says.

So, as I'm sure that the responsible union that represents our hard working crew has done all this why should there be any sleepless nights and worry? By now, armed with all the facts our cabin crew should be well versed in the all the ramifications of their actions and should have been able to make informed, rational and logical decisions as to whether they will or will not strike. They should be at peace with themselves and be sleeping as soundly as Mr Walsh is.

[cheeky chappy]

Sky News has a letter from Walsh to Woodley effectively saying that if a deal isn't done by June then he'll serve notice on existing crew contracts. Perhaps the waverers should see what happened to the Aer Lingus cabin crew this week.

Link please...

[trafficnotsighted]

So let me get this straight, i am in dispute with my employer and my union agrees to a way forward to avoid a strike with certain conditions. My union has the details of a proposal which i would expect to be informed of SO I THE VERY WORKER THEY ARE LOOKING AFTER CAN MAKE A INFORMED DECISION.
In their wisdom without consulting us, the union decide to break the agreed conditions,
thus removing my right to decide.

Can someone please clarify that its the employer i am supposed to be angry with because right now i feel pretty angry with the union