British Airways vs. BASSA (Airline Staff Only)

[wizz_darlo]

Openskies crew balloting for strike....BA crew on strike.....common denominator - walsh.

Walsh is not a common denominator here. Openskies is run by a man called Dale Moss and it is based in France.

I've been a quiet observer of this thread but I've noticed that you seem fairly incapable of a constructive response Juan.
I mean what kind of well informed adult says things like "whoppee for you"??

Give me a break. Get back to work will you.

[flying_chick]

Juan Hun, why bother talking to these oompa lumpa in wonka chocolate factory???

EG903B. It Is illegal to discriminate against persons who have taken part in legal industrial action.. if you work for BA look it up that is why thousands of my colleagues are writing to their managers and not getting replies. cant wait until it goes to European courts. ANother court case for willy.. oh dear!!

Also, it is disgusting how you harp on about BASSA being militants when some of you are so bitter and twisted you come on here and acutally want us to lose our jobs!! well news for you we won't.. we wont quit yet. Oh and it is not a minority who are on strike. can't wait until the real figures our realised.

I have a friend who crossed the picket line made a huge mistake back strike now. horrible atmosphere people getting called out on standby left right and centre nobody turning up for their trips. volunteer crew useless!!! yeah that is right..

[Watersidewonker]

£50 strike pay that's a step forward looks like it's going to be a long hot summer. Planes flying empty,media fed lies,clueless leadership and a little angry man who doesn't take holidays. The fight goes on still as strong as ever Bedfont seems to have more people passing through than T5.

[Juan Tugoh]

Illegality of ST removal

It Is illegal to discriminate against persons who have taken part in legal industrial action.

this remains to be tested in a court, it is not an indisputable fact that by removing the ST concession the company has acted illegally. Even if that were the case, it still has to be proven in court. That may well take many years, just look at the holiday pay issue for evidence of that. That said, can the commuters from Australia and Los Angeles etc, that DH seems so keen to champion, pay for full fare tickets or even Hotlines for the next couple of years. If they cannot, do not expect the company to re-employ them in a couple of years, even if they did it would be on New Fleet terms - so at best a pyrrhic victory at best. Certainly nothing to crow about.

[The Blu Riband]

Oh and it is not a minority who are on strike

Wow, what planet are you on?
3000 out of 13000 is a minority in my language.

BA are now operating 80% of longhaul flts

you come on here and acutally want us to lose our jobs!!

nobody turning up for their trips. volunteer crew useless!!!

I've operated 5 lh strike flights and had regular crew on all occasions except my last but one where we had 2 vols.
The vols are proving to be excellent.

Other thoughts:
CSDs. Only twice has the csd turned up. Whilst the 2 that did were very good, the pursers who operated as sccm were as good, if not better.

Do we need csd's at all? Just let ops decide which purser is sccm for the trip.

8 crew? Not enough for a full service but we
Certainly don't need 12!!

Good crew are great; we don't need the ones who have a bad attitude and don't pull their weight. In fact the difficult crew members have always caused more trouble than 300 passengers, and often escalate a tricky situation rather than resolving it.

So, do we want you back?
Do we need you back?

Not really, have a nice life. Bye.

[wizz_darlo]

I'm not old enough to remember the other large scale industrial disputes in this country - however driving to work everyday and passing the picket lines I find it sad to watch grown adults waving flags and blowing whistles whilst chanting "bye bye willie willie bye" and "you'll be next you'll be next".

We've already been. We've already made cuts. YOU'RE NEXT and it's YOUR turn to help the airline survive - but you're all so blinded by Union propaganda that you don't realise this.

[Chigley]

J.O.

You keep banging on about these brave men and women standing up to 'this bully walsh'. Well nobody sees things the way the BASSA minority do. You are not standing up for the rest of us ........ we back BA and see what you are doing as selfish and ignorant!

Willie Walsh is not destroying this once great company.....BASSA is! Hopefully once BASSA have nailed the final nail in their coffin, we can get back to business and put BA back at the top!

[The Blu Riband]

people getting called out on standby left right and centre

An example.

2 trips already cancelled on monday morning. The crew turn up anyway.

BA put them on standby - obviously they have to be used soon or will be unusable due to duty limits.

BA reinstate an LA service on 747.

12 crew operate to LA!

Good result!


I'm surprised , and impressed, that BA are sticking rigidly to existing "industrial" scheduling limitations. The temptation to break the rules must be huge but they haven't done it.

they wont quit! Presumably this is because that wont find the same pay T & Cs anywhere else

True. Some of the strikers will never quit.
BA must carry on without them.

[ChicoG]

Flying chick:

volunteer crew useless!!! yeah that is right..

Would it be remiss to ask, given that you aren't working: How would you know?

More to the point there is ample testimony from both people here and the SLF thread that VCC and non-striking crew have created a far more pleasurable on-board experience.

QED

[flying_chick]

3000 out of 13000 hahahaha actually it is now about 12,000 since VR also, that was 3000 in the last wave yes, I spoke to lady doing union strike pay bearing in mind lots of people haven't claimed yet it was near the 3000 mark last time without claiming strike pay. Lots of crew on leave, part time etc last wave so this will be the real test when figures are realised this time.

Also, dont' count LGW because they are not striking.. I woujld say we are not in the minority otherwise we would have been stopped by now!!! fact is willy wonka has had time to train volunteers pilots etc otherwise I can assure you this little plan of this pyscho CEO wouldnt' be working..

[Wirbelsturm]

fact is willy wonka has had time to train volunteers pilots etc otherwise I can assure you this little plan of this pyscho CEO wouldnt' be working..

But..... on Crew Forum..... you all stated that 130 'volunteer pilots' had withdrawn support, no doubt led by El Cid the Pilots voice and representative. (another pack of lies).

Also, if the pilot VCC community is sooooooo important, who is Willie getting to fly all of the extra flights that have been generated in your esteemed absence? Do we have a pool of volunteer pilots I hadn't noticed?

Almost all of the flights I have operated have been crewed by normal CC with very view VCC as they haven't been needed.

As BASSA originally claimed that IA from 'BAs most important department ( )' would cripple BA and leave the airline totally grounded I would take a close look at your facts.

Continue to believe BASSA spin if you will, the rest of use will look at the real world.

[swalesboy]

After the 12th you are not covered by law. You can't re-ballot on an exsisting strike mandate so the outcome that everyone in the UK can see coming (except at most 3000 Unite members), is that come the end of June, you will be looking for a new job.

Harsh maybe, but its the reality of the situation.

[hunterboy]

Flying Chick..
How do you see this dispute ending? Do you see WW backing down and coming around to BASSA's way of thinking?
If not, what do you think will happen after June 9th?
I have no idea, but if BASSA keep costing the company millions, there will come a time when it is cheaper to fire all the strikers and pay any unfair dismissal claims in several years when they come to court.
I would say that unless you have a second job up your sleeve, then you are following a very risky strategy without any kind of back-up plan.
Also, the schadenfreud that I see in the company losing all this money.....what do you think BASSA will be saying when BA come back in a year or two saying that they can't afford to keep the pension fund open...or that they can't afford a pay rise?
Now that you have all gone out on strike for this, do you think many crew will come out on strike again in the near future? I hate to say it, but I think you have shot your bolt, and for a fairly trivial reason.
You would have been better keeping your powder dry for when the company do start turning the screws.

[ranger07]

flying chick

Are you aware of how most BA staff now feel towards you? The opinions now have swung from 'delusional/denial/selfish/get in the real world'...to anger....and beyond...

If DH is not aware of the strength of feeling, maybe he should be told. Hey, but would he care?

[Nevermind]

ranger07

I would be very careful with those words.

"Absolute despise" is exactly the sort of stuff we don't need when we finally start to get over this. From either side.

Unless you work for MORI, I would think very hard about writing what the rest of us feel.

It's very easy to get worked up in front of a keyboard, but frankly I don't want anyone with those sort of emotions flying on my aeroplane.

[ranger07]

nevermind

I'm not writing as to how 'the rest of us feel', I refer to the staff I have spoken with.

Okay, sounds harsh, but when you are a loyal employee, when you go the extra mile like many of us did and have done, when, not only your job but pension is in jeapordy due to a minority hell bent with their own agendas, to say we are a little 'hacked off' is an understatement.

Okay, for the benefit of this forum and to remain a poster on this site, I'll edit accordingly.

[Wirbelsturm]

Perhaps it would be best for us all, myself included, to remember that the fundamental difference in this debate is the ability of BASSA to produce unverifyable figures from thin air whilst BA must remain legally open and honest about figures and retain evidence to back up its claims.

The majority of pro-BASSA input on this forum tends to be of the 'one liner' variety to illicit 'sound bite' responses to be copied over to Crew Forum or the BASSA forum. Generally they do not offer solutions or facts.

I back BA. I am aware of the current operation and I am also aware of the load factors through FICO. I still believe that many of the BASSA Bedfont crew are there on days off and out of idle interest. However I think that we need to be rid of the BASSA council for the future good of the company.

Good luck to all, I hope, in the future, we will look back on the demise of BASSA over a pint downroute and wonder what all the fuss was about.

[TightSlot]

Flying Chick became a little over excited (too many red Smarties possibly) and is taking a very short break with a glass of milk and a cookie in her cot. I'm sure that she'll be back to play with us all soon.

Now, what else can we play?

[ranger07]

Okay, back on track...

Do we know if there are any planned Willie/Unite meetings prior to the next wave?

[Crash_and_Burn]

Update from Unite..

3 June 2010

The strike alone has now cost BA £119 million.

The strike continues to make an impact on BA's operations. Rest day working is now being offered to Gatwick cabin crew by BA managers. This is to try to increase the number of trained crew who are able to work. This will continue until June 13th. Asking crew to work on their days off shows that, despite BA claims, the Gatwick operation is being stretched as some crew are on strike and others are being used to crew Heathrow flights because colleagues there are on strike.

Any LGW crew able to comment the above statement.. Fact or Fiction?

CB