British Airways - CC Industrial Relations Mk VI

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by wascrew

BASSA could have avoided all this!

They asolutely could have; you're right.

But isn't the same true of British Airways?

[Litebulbs]

wascrew

One of the main themes on this and previous threads is that BA crew are paid better that competitors and have better conditions. I would say that BASSA have been very effective.

[ArthurScargill]

For anyone worried about bullying - heres a tactic

If you're still a member of BASSA and worried you'll get labelled a strike breaker, then why not resign your membership (which you probably should do anyway if you're considering not striking), and that way if questioned you simply cannot strike cos you're not a member of the union and if you did strike you'd be sacked without any protection - noone could argue with that

[ExecJetDriver]

Just been speaking to a friend wrapped up in this unfortunate mess. She mentioned that she has just received an email with the final proposal from the company this evening and that her mind is now made up having read it. She will be reporting for duty. Good luck to all concerned.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by TopBunk

Whichever way you look at this: BASSA are feeding the Eurofleet fodder into the flames to protect Worldwide T's&C's.

Why didn't they call the dispute to start from 1800 local time? Why, because that affects the lucrative LH departures to SIN, BKK, HKG, GRU, JNB, CPT etc.

It really is about time some people did 'wake up and smell the coffee' - to coin an oft (mis)used BASSA phrase.

Sir, you're right. But whatever way you look at this strike, it's grossly unfair in so many ways.

There will have been people coming home from trips today who will have their MBTs over the next three days of strike action and be due to come in to work on Tuesday. They'll be able to come to work with their heads held high saying "I was off but I would have gone on strike". Well I'm afraid that doesn't cut it for me.

Nor do I accept the "I would have, but couldn't" argument from people who are downroute during the strike, or those on leave or those on part time. Or thse on long-term sick.

In my mind, the only people who have gone on strike are those who either DON'T SHOW for a day at work or those who, on their allocated time off anyway, come to Bedfont or stand on the picket line.

I can see loads of people sitting at home on days off thinking "thank goodness I don't have to strike, but if anyone asks - whether I would have done or not - I'm going to say I'd have gone on strike".

Being on a day off and sitting at home watching telly is NOT striking.

And you're right in that, again, worldwide crew will escape the worst of things as they're more likely to be downroute or on days off and be able to avoid the strike.

So to my Eurofleet colleagues, whatever they decide to do, you have my respect and continued support. We were one team before all this and, regardless of what you do tomorrow, we'll still be one team afterwards.

[HasFlyed]

Eddy

I respect your careful approach and open mind.

With the evidence before me I believe that the sun will rise tomorrow. This is based on a lifetimes experience and a crude grasp of astronomical principles. Most decisions are harder to make. In fact some of my judgements about the honesty or otherwise of a lot of statements made about this dispute eventually come down to evaluating probabilities and past history. (I am reminded yet again by. "Well, he would say that wouldn't he").
Don't you think that track record counts for a lot here!
We will, I think, not ever be completely certain even when the history books have been published, most of the CC directly involved will not be able to wait that long, and some will need to make a decision now.

[Eddy]

And, let's not forget :


Are you willing to engage in lawful strike action?

[wascrew]

?

Eddy lets look at the reasons for BA`s cost cutting proposal. Do we agree that it is a reaction to the state of the company/aviation industry/economy/competition?

So over a year ago BA present their proposals. As proved in
Malone & Ors v British Airways Plc [2010] EWHC 302 (QB) (19 February 2010)
(go to chapter V11 the chronology)
the union could not agree amongst themselves never mind sit in the same room as BA.
When they did BASSA presented a counter proposal which was £100m short as audited by PCW. They refused the invitation to look at BA`s books.
Still BA/WW/BF came back with a counter offer allaying some of the fears of legacy crew.
This was again refused but up to last week was adjusted by BA/WW/BF to be good enough for one person from unite to recommend be put to members to vote on. Whilst another called the strike dates.

I think BA/WW/BF have all been reasonable to a point where they have realised that reason does not work in dealings with UNITE/BASSA.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by Arty Scargill

Is it definitely a lawful protected strike ? Its a grey area to me and i am half expecting to see a sting in the tail on that one. However, i'm sure BASSA and UNite know what they're doing

I wish I could say with some certainty that it was.....

But I remember a few branch meetings ago when the legal team of Bassa dealing with the crew reductions said "we're absolutely going to win this one, there's no doubt, but we're going to be months away from a final settlement because of the appeals process". Hmmmmmmm.

Originally Posted by Clarified

After careful consideration of these questions, are you willing to.....

Keep in mind that a lot of crew will be relying on one side of the debate - the Bassa side - and not taking into account the BA released information. I've lost friends because I insist on reading, hearing and digesting information given to me by both BA and Bassa and I'm not scared to make judgements based on all of those facts.

Christ, I'm posting under my real name with my home location in my profile.....

[Eddy]

So why has BA allowed this one to go ahead while at Chtristmas, faced with the same questions over the eligibility of some of the votes cast, they took Unite to court to block the strike fom taking place?!

What's changed ?

[Caribbean Boy]

Service on board

binsleepen wrote:

I assume that during the strike BA will be working staff to CAA limits rather than industrial in order to maximise the efficiency of the aircraft and crew and that this would also include sweeping aside the Spanish practices.

Yes, crewing will be closer to the minimum CAA requirements, but there will be CSP volunteers in the air who will assist the cabin crew by carrying out tasks such as handing out bottled water and collecting used headsets and rubbish.

The on board service will of course suffer. Some of the services which will not be available or be restricted are:

• no pre-ordered special meals
• limited number of vegetarian meals
• no hot meals
• no child meals, but for young children or infants pax can bring baby food and powdered milk which can be prepared on the aircraft.
• no inflight retail

In the circumstances, none of these are important. And having spent the past four days rebooking and refunding passengers who have been forced to cancel their trips, I can tell you that the ones who will travel are only too grateful to be able to get from A to B.

[Eddy]

I think hot meals will continue to be offered on flihts where we offer two hots - i.e. longer flights.

I don't understand the logic to the "no hot meals" thing, though. Is it cos with reduced crew levels they might go cold while being dished out?

[Caribbean Boy]

Food and drink service

Eddy wrote:

I think hot meals will continue to be offered on flihts where we offer two hots - i.e. longer flights.

I don't understand the logic to the "no hot meals" thing, though. Is it cos with reduced crew levels they might go cold while being dished out?

BA will not be serving hot meals as there won't be sufficient crew to heat and serve the meals.

This is the food and drink service that BA will provide.

On flights under 9 hours a cold meal will be served with snacks and savoury items available from the galley at any time during the flight.

On flights over 9 hours a cold meal will be served with a snack available later in the flight.

Snacks and savoury items will also be available from the galley at any time during the flight.

The usual range of hot and cold drinks will be available along with a bar service.

[cym]

Eddy

Hot meals etc over the next few days are not the real issue here

See my previous post - I do welcome you're thoughts as it covers where we are now and how we got here!

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by cym

The continued damage to forward bookings and brand value have put BA in a situation where, after 13 months of attempting to negotiate with a union incapable of agreeing their internal position (see High Court Judgement) the strike is the lesser of two evils

I am desperate for this strike to take place, sir. But not for the reasons you might think..... I shall leave it there but end by saying that, as crew, my customers - the company's customers, are extremely important to me.

Perhaps I'll divulge on this one after the strike period is over... But I might need to be reminded to pop back. Send me a PM cos I get email notification. Otherwise it might take another period of unrest to drag me back here.

[Old and Horrified]

I resigned as a pilot from BA in 1979 - (actually a bad decision but that is another story) and I remember to this day the restrictive practices of the cabin crew then and how they used to screw the company every way they could. Finaly we have a CEO prepared to take them on. Good luck WW - it's about time. (and I wont be sorry about a few less people on the staff travel standby list for my next holiday)

[617sqn]

Well here we are.
I am at a place that I didn't want to be.I still can't believe it,feels surreal.
I am upset,devastated and angry.
What happens now?This weekend will be very stressful.
I can't think of any way that I will keep my terms and conditions.

[AlpineSkier]

Thanks Eddy

Would you like to repond to this hypothesis ?

Since anyone who struck on day one, is not likely to come in on other days (SH) and discover blocked card, is it not likely that anybody rostered in the initial three day strike will have to make their decisions without knowing what BA HR has decided about preceeding strikers ?

[beamer]

I wonder if someone could explain to me what training the 'temporary cabin crew', being apparently used by BA, have actually undertaken. Knowing full well, the very extensive initial and recurrent training that cabin crew undertake in the airline for which I fly - major UK charter, one has to wonder how extensive the training has been for such personnel who may have had no previous experience in the role.

Without wishing to get too deeply drawn into the why's and wherefore's of the dispute itself, I do notice that comparisons are continually being drawn between terms and conditions between BA and Virgin. Those working in the wider UK sector with Thomas Cook, Thomson and Monarch would look at such contracts with envious eyes indeed not forgetting for a moment those in the 'low-cost' sector. If the perception that BA are on golden terms compared to the rest of the UK airline industry is factually incorrect, then Unite have not done much of a job communicating that fact.

Checking into a Caribbean hotel the other day at the same time as a BA crew it was readily apparent which crew had had the harder day out and it was'nt the boys in blazers !

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by AlpineSkiier

Since anyone who struck on day one, is not likely to come in on other days (SH) and discover blocked card, is it not likely that anybody rostered in the initial three day strike will have to make their decisions without knowing what BA HR has decided about preceeding strikers ?

It's very, very likely indeed. And entirely fair.

People should strike because they WANT to strike and because they believe a strike is the best way of resolving our current problems.

There are crew who are saying to me that "I would strike, but I need my staff travel" and I couldn't respect them less!

If you believe strongly enough in a strike, you should down tools.

So if BA keeps secret it's plans for dealing with the strikers, people who want to strike will do so and will endure the consequences of that decision. If someone was planning on striking but, after hearing what came of their colleagues from day-one, decided not to do so, they'd deserve a bit of smack. But with the utmost respect.

I think BA is doing the right thing by keeping the consequences secret.

I have made my decision and I'm prepared to suffer the consequences of it. Nothing - but nothing - will make me change my mind at this late stage.