British Airways - CC Industrial Relations Mk VI
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Reading the first editions of the Sunday newspapers is quite bizarre. We've now got quotes - who knows what context they were originally made in - that include crew suggesting that service standards and the quality of food is part of the reason they are on strike and Len McCluskey accusing Walsh of behaving more like a 19th-century mill owner. Another crew member is talking about fundamental freedoms and civil liberties. I respect her right to strike, but where she lost me was when she said she had friends sitting at home suspended for having said they were going on strike. I just cannot believe any company would talk such drastic action against staff members merely because they are exercising their right to strike. There seems to be such a ramp up on the "he said-she said-I heard this from someone..." at the moment, it's unreal.
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One subtlety that many may have missed is this: Ba had planned their contingency ops using many volunteer cabin crew. In many cases these are being stood down as real cabin crew turn up and man the flights. This was true yesterday, if it continues in this vein there will be less disruption in the gap between strikes as so many pilots and engineers etc will not be away down route but will be in the uk ready to continue with their normal jobs.
I suspect that the second set of strikes will be less well supported by union staff, strikers feeling that they have made their point but cannot afford to lose any more money etc.
I suspect that the second set of strikes will be less well supported by union staff, strikers feeling that they have made their point but cannot afford to lose any more money etc.
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Quick count on LHR departures (Flightstats) shows 170ish cancellations up till midnight.
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I suspect that the second set of strikes will be less well supported by union staff, strikers feeling that they have made their point but cannot afford to lose any more money etc.
It may not be a party but what's happening is crew who are turning up for work are drawing strength form each other and supporting each other. This is giving crew who are supposed to report for duty today increased confidence that it is okay to come to work to serve our customers.
I'm also pleased to add that all PCCC members operated flights yesterday and some are doing so today.
Last edited by Tiramisu; 21st Mar 2010 at 08:38. Reason: Added an extra sentence
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This whole sorry BASSA episode has been a slow motion train wreck. It was obvious how it would end.
Willie Walsh has been extremely patient and played it very well. Not that Bassa have given him much to beat. They are finished in my view.
In the offer to UNITE last week, BA stated that bargaining arrangements for New Fleet would be separate to existing staff (I remember reading this and being a little concerned.) This is why BASSA rejected the deal and Willie Walsh knew all along they would.
A very smart move by Willie Walsh.
Willie Walsh and Bill Francis will recognise crew who report for duty during the strike in a truly honourable way. They would have been humbled by the support of loyal staff. They are not going to waste that loyalty, something that cannot be bought.
This is why current staff who have not breached their contracts and stayed loyal may be offered the contract BA originally offered BASSA last week which BASSA refused. Wishful thinking on my part of course!
Willie Walsh will sort out the loyal staff quickly I hope, and deal with the strikers later. If I was a striker, I would be very, very worried.
My personal thoughts entirely, not those of BA!
Willie Walsh has been extremely patient and played it very well. Not that Bassa have given him much to beat. They are finished in my view.
In the offer to UNITE last week, BA stated that bargaining arrangements for New Fleet would be separate to existing staff (I remember reading this and being a little concerned.) This is why BASSA rejected the deal and Willie Walsh knew all along they would.
A very smart move by Willie Walsh.
Willie Walsh and Bill Francis will recognise crew who report for duty during the strike in a truly honourable way. They would have been humbled by the support of loyal staff. They are not going to waste that loyalty, something that cannot be bought.
This is why current staff who have not breached their contracts and stayed loyal may be offered the contract BA originally offered BASSA last week which BASSA refused. Wishful thinking on my part of course!
Willie Walsh will sort out the loyal staff quickly I hope, and deal with the strikers later. If I was a striker, I would be very, very worried.
My personal thoughts entirely, not those of BA!
Last edited by Tiramisu; 21st Mar 2010 at 11:44. Reason: Disclaimer added!
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STS
Welcome to great galley-FM equation! Formula: take any story heard in the mid galley ("Its gospel truth, honest! - I heard it from Pete/Mike/Sue on my back-to-back!"), divide by 100, carry the two, knock off a zero, move the decimal point two to the left, and you will somewhere close to the truth 
. Sadly, the truth is never as interesting as some juicy gossip...
As for the jets at Cardiff - im sure the duty tech manager wont be answering questions today, but surely someone who has driven past could note the presence (or not) of 20 747s? Last I looked, they are pretty tricky to hide under a tatty tarpaulin...
I just cannot believe any company would talk such drastic action against staff members merely because they are exercising their right to strike. There seems to be such a ramp up on the "he said-she said-I heard this from someone..." at the moment, it's unreal.
. Sadly, the truth is never as interesting as some juicy gossip...As for the jets at Cardiff - im sure the duty tech manager wont be answering questions today, but surely someone who has driven past could note the presence (or not) of 20 747s? Last I looked, they are pretty tricky to hide under a tatty tarpaulin...
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After just another day yesterday working in the aluminium tube 
I had the best night sleep I have had in a long time.
Just wanted to add that the journey to work was completely without trouble. I came off the M25 at T4/T5 turnoff (J14) and drove to the car park - no pickets whatsoever. Crew bus into T5 absolutely fine - a bit weird not being able to see out and know where you are! - and crew helpers to meet you as you get off.
The atmosphere in CRC, as already reported, was electric and once onboard, customers were very pleased to see us.
Clarified - as always, well said. I agree - it doesn't really matter now which way people voted, we have moved on. What matters now is preserving our company and preserving our jobs.
BF was also saying yesterday that the Unite top dogs were being fairly reasonable - the rejections came from the BASSA reps themselves. That is those CSDS receiving both a BA and a Unite salary that don't really have too much to lose in all of this. I would implore any cabin crew reading this to do yourselves a favour. Get your uniform on, pack your bags and report for duty. The reason why we established the PCCC was because of this, not because we are management or pilots or anything else. The Professional Cabin Crew Council are Cabin Crew like you - please get yourself to work.
The phrase on everybody's lips yesterday at CRC was the same "I have resigned/am resigning from the Union". I hope that at the very least people will now read our website www.professionalcrewcouncil.com and see that there IS another way to do business. Yesterday it was apparent that many, many crew have decided that the day has now come to change it.
And it was very liberating to fly without the "pressure" being exerted from the Union and all the anti-management talk. This strike will either be the making or the breaking of BA. I have a real sense now that it will be the former....What a wonderful feeling it is to be part of such a great team.
I am BA cabin crew and this is my own viewpoint and not that of BA.
I had the best night sleep I have had in a long time.Just wanted to add that the journey to work was completely without trouble. I came off the M25 at T4/T5 turnoff (J14) and drove to the car park - no pickets whatsoever. Crew bus into T5 absolutely fine - a bit weird not being able to see out and know where you are! - and crew helpers to meet you as you get off.
The atmosphere in CRC, as already reported, was electric and once onboard, customers were very pleased to see us.
Clarified - as always, well said. I agree - it doesn't really matter now which way people voted, we have moved on. What matters now is preserving our company and preserving our jobs.
BF was also saying yesterday that the Unite top dogs were being fairly reasonable - the rejections came from the BASSA reps themselves. That is those CSDS receiving both a BA and a Unite salary that don't really have too much to lose in all of this. I would implore any cabin crew reading this to do yourselves a favour. Get your uniform on, pack your bags and report for duty. The reason why we established the PCCC was because of this, not because we are management or pilots or anything else. The Professional Cabin Crew Council are Cabin Crew like you - please get yourself to work.
The phrase on everybody's lips yesterday at CRC was the same "I have resigned/am resigning from the Union". I hope that at the very least people will now read our website www.professionalcrewcouncil.com and see that there IS another way to do business. Yesterday it was apparent that many, many crew have decided that the day has now come to change it.
And it was very liberating to fly without the "pressure" being exerted from the Union and all the anti-management talk. This strike will either be the making or the breaking of BA. I have a real sense now that it will be the former....What a wonderful feeling it is to be part of such a great team.
I am BA cabin crew and this is my own viewpoint and not that of BA.
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Tiramisu
Willie Walsh and Bill Francis will recognise crew who report for duty during the strike in a truly honourable way. They would have been humbled by the support of loyal staff. They are not going to waste that loyalty, something that cannot be bought.
This is why current staff who have not breached their contracts and stayed loyal will be offered the contract BA originally offered BASSA last week which BASSA refused.
This is why current staff who have not breached their contracts and stayed loyal will be offered the contract BA originally offered BASSA last week which BASSA refused.
Change is needed across the business and I am sure if the whole power issue is put on one side, it is possible to find a solution that is acceptable by all parties involved. Let's get to a world where Unions do look after the best interests of their members and negotiate about what is being offered not about what they believe might be happening or might happen in the future.
We want to have an airline to go back to, an airline that people (existing staff as well as new joiners) are proud to be part of, where the value of each individual and department is recognised and understood across the board.
Mods
not sure what was wrong with my previous post, since it appears to have been deleted, but whatever it was, I didn't mean to be inflammatory.
DCW
Is he the one who called me ExB1rdsh*t ? If so I entirely agree with the above comment, invective never achieves anything in the end.
Hope everything went OK for you, you have the second-best job in the World, don't wreck it.
( Best job is top left hand seat in a 747, but that's another story ! )
Good luck.
PS Your boyfriend doesn't sound like a very nice piece of work.
Hope everything went OK for you, you have the second-best job in the World, don't wreck it.
( Best job is top left hand seat in a 747, but that's another story ! )
Good luck.
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Stats from the BA website
Quote:
Quick count on LHR departures (Flightstats) shows 170ish cancellations up till midnight.
Slower count of LHR departures on Flightstats reveals only 114 canx and 197 departures (midnight to midnight)
Quick count on LHR departures (Flightstats) shows 170ish cancellations up till midnight.
Slower count of LHR departures on Flightstats reveals only 114 canx and 197 departures (midnight to midnight)
I don't know what Flightstats is, but the LHR departures board on BA.com has 153 cancellations, I haven't counted the blue ones. I guess it is about half and half.
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Quote by Tiramisu
Willie Walsh and Bill Francis will recognise crew who report for duty during the strike in a truly honourable way. They would have been humbled by the support of loyal staff. They are not going to waste that loyalty, something that cannot be bought.
This is why current staff who have not breached their contracts and stayed loyal may be offered the contract BA originally offered BASSA last week which BASSA refused. That is my wish, of course.
Willie Walsh and Bill Francis will recognise crew who report for duty during the strike in a truly honourable way. They would have been humbled by the support of loyal staff. They are not going to waste that loyalty, something that cannot be bought.
This is why current staff who have not breached their contracts and stayed loyal may be offered the contract BA originally offered BASSA last week which BASSA refused. That is my wish, of course.
Why wouldn't Willie Walsh do that? I'm hoping that he does. The whole world is watching and one thing he won't do is rub loyal staff up the wrong way because he need us to continue to come to work.
I also noticed the calibre of crew who turned up yesterday, many were crew I had previous experience of flying with as a CSD. They were enthusiastic, professional crew who were excellent in their roles.
Of course these are entirely my views based on my conversation with Bill Francis yesterday and his reception to all of us who came to work.
All I can say is watch the space and let's see how this unfolds.
Watch the slow motion BASSA train wreck. It has.
All the above are my personal opinions!
Last edited by Tiramisu; 21st Mar 2010 at 12:04. Reason: Disclaimer added
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Reminder
Yesterdays ROE repeated - they apply today also
- If your post is in response to another post that has since been deleted, your response will also be deleted - moral: refresh your page before posting (browser tabs are useful in this instance)
- Do not feel tempted to post line-by-line updates of cancellations/delays: Other users are more than capable of searching for this information by themselves.
- This thread is intended primarily for Cabin Crew - This is the Cabin Crew Forum
- If you are a passenger or shareholder or simply an interested bystander who wishes to rant, or provide us all with your fascinating insights into the state of BASSA/Management/Britain please use the Pax/SLF forum where a thread exists specifically for this purpose.
- New posts should be focussed on news, or facts or stuff that relates to events.
- Do not post newspaper articles - post links to them. Do not post links to articles that have already been linked to.
- Posts that do not comply will be deleted. Moderators will be active with thread-bans, forum bans and whatever it may take to keep this thread readable, germane and interesting. Those of you in love with sound of your own keyboards should think carefully before posting.
Mr. Birdspeed, (volunteer pilot cc) wasn't used today or yesterday and is now due to operate his originally-rostered L/H service tomorrow as a pilot.
A pilot vol friend of ours was called yesterday to operate his big bird last night in the left hand seat, not on a trolley.
It looks like very few vols, if any, are being used and the main cancellations are to the S/H schedule with L/H rolling along nicely.
80% walk-out? Don't think so.
A pilot vol friend of ours was called yesterday to operate his big bird last night in the left hand seat, not on a trolley.
It looks like very few vols, if any, are being used and the main cancellations are to the S/H schedule with L/H rolling along nicely.
80% walk-out? Don't think so.
Last edited by birdspeed; 21st Mar 2010 at 09:35. Reason: typo
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PR
Seems there is an inbalance between Company/Union re tv interviews, the latter prevailing. Though I guess if the flights are getting away as the Company say, it's going to be quite discrediting to the Union when this becomes evident.
Juan Tugoh,
A couple of points to consider .....
Between the announced strike dates, the flying program may be also be reduced because consideration is being given to keeping strikers from this weekend away from operations. The company feels it may be better to keep troublemakers out of the loop, otherwise there could be some conflict between strikers from this weekend, and volunteers/working cabin crew.
Remember, in company communications to all staff, BA made it clear that strikers would only be allowed to report back for work at a time of the company's choosing! And throughout the time that strikers are not at work, they are not being paid! That will concentrate a few minds.
.... if it continues in this vein there will be less disruption in the gap between strikes as so many pilots and engineers etc will not be away down route but will be in the uk ready to continue with their normal jobs.
I suspect that the second set of strikes will be less well supported by union staff, strikers feeling that they have made their point but cannot afford to lose any more money etc.
I suspect that the second set of strikes will be less well supported by union staff, strikers feeling that they have made their point but cannot afford to lose any more money etc.
Between the announced strike dates, the flying program may be also be reduced because consideration is being given to keeping strikers from this weekend away from operations. The company feels it may be better to keep troublemakers out of the loop, otherwise there could be some conflict between strikers from this weekend, and volunteers/working cabin crew.
Remember, in company communications to all staff, BA made it clear that strikers would only be allowed to report back for work at a time of the company's choosing! And throughout the time that strikers are not at work, they are not being paid! That will concentrate a few minds.
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RE: PR
a couple of considerations on current PR (trying to look past the spin from media/individuals):
- the Union is trying to highlight that the strike has been successful as many flights have been canx and pax disrupted. Strike is a success.
- BA is highlighting that it is operating the planned schedule and more cabin crew are reporting for work than expected and therefore few flights have been reinstated. Contingency plan is a success. Cabin crew support for the company is high.
Since BA is not operating the full schedule, but a reduced operation due to the contingency plans, Unite claim to having disrupted passengers and the operation is not totally wrong. This strike action has costed BA a lot, as the option of a refund has been available to many passengers and surely many have taken it (not sure about the actual figure).
HOWEVER: since BA has been able to carry the majority of passengers to their destination, flying the reduced schedule as planned (so far) and even reinstating canx flights thanks to more crew coming to work, BA's claims appeared justified and not a PR spin. The strike is a disruption but we have managed to limit the damage and deliver on what we committed to.
Thank you to all the crew and volunteers that are making the latter possible... we were always going to be unable to operate the full schedule, but the fact that we can operate what we planned and even more and not cause and further disruption IS AN AMAZING ACHIEVEMENT!!!
- the Union is trying to highlight that the strike has been successful as many flights have been canx and pax disrupted. Strike is a success.
- BA is highlighting that it is operating the planned schedule and more cabin crew are reporting for work than expected and therefore few flights have been reinstated. Contingency plan is a success. Cabin crew support for the company is high.
Since BA is not operating the full schedule, but a reduced operation due to the contingency plans, Unite claim to having disrupted passengers and the operation is not totally wrong. This strike action has costed BA a lot, as the option of a refund has been available to many passengers and surely many have taken it (not sure about the actual figure).
HOWEVER: since BA has been able to carry the majority of passengers to their destination, flying the reduced schedule as planned (so far) and even reinstating canx flights thanks to more crew coming to work, BA's claims appeared justified and not a PR spin. The strike is a disruption but we have managed to limit the damage and deliver on what we committed to.
Thank you to all the crew and volunteers that are making the latter possible... we were always going to be unable to operate the full schedule, but the fact that we can operate what we planned and even more and not cause and further disruption IS AN AMAZING ACHIEVEMENT!!!