BA CC industrial relations (current airline staff only)

[Betty girl]

Don't think it is out yet!

[prism]

It has just been published by BF on ESS Betty. There is a link. Ref VCC the VCC name is to go and is replaced by a new concept so that all customer facing jobs can be done by anyone else who is interested on a voluntary basis so eg check in could learn cabin crew role and vice versa.

'A new company wide programme will be launched in all customer contact and customer support areas. The new programme will replace the current arrangements for voluntary cabin crew. The programme will also give cabin crew and other colleagues the chance to experience working in other areas across the business'

[Betty girl]

The deal in brief, just emailed to all crew.

Working together - A joint settlement between British Airways and Unite the union




Briefing Notes 11 May 2011

Dispute Item – Dispute related disciplinaries.

Settlement - Any employees dismissed for dispute related reasons, and whose case has not been heard by an Employment Tribunal, may elect to have their case heard through the ACAS arbitration scheme. The result will be binding on both parties. ACAS will also carry out a review of other dispute related disciplinary cases.

Dispute Item – Sickness related pay claims.

Settlement - British Airways is committed to paying all crew who were genuinely sick during industrial action. Affected individuals will have the opportunity to ask for a further final review and if it is concluded that the sickness is genuine, pay will be restored.

Dispute Item – Trade Union facilities.

Settlement – Both parties have recognised that in order to maintain a strong business, managing through change together is essential. On this basis we have agreed a new way of working and a new Trade Union facilities agreement based on a set of principles that will enable us to work together to deliver for our customers, our business and our people.

From the implementation of this agreement there will be a single cabin crew Unite branch at Heathrow. A new single Unite branch and NSP will also be established for Gatwick to give it the autonomy to focus on its own future.

Dispute Item – Assurances for crew following the introduction of Mixed Fleet.


Settlement –

• Crew have a firm commitment from British Airways in respect of their collectively agreed arrangements.
• All existing part time lists will be completed in seniority order by grade. New part time opportunities will be available every 3 months.
• There will be a fair and transparent distribution of routes across all fleets consistent with commercial need. There will be seasonal reviews chaired by an independent third party to ensure this is achieved.
• New aircraft will be introduced across all fleets and crew will be trained to ensure they hold the relevant licences.
• The career structure for crew on all fleets remains unchanged. Although there will only be limited promotional opportunities, they will be on current terms and conditions.
• Both parties are committed to honouring agreements and working together to collectively agreed arrangements.
• Crew at Heathrow will continue to have the ability to transfer between Eurofleet and Worldwide on a one for one basis on the current terms and conditions.
• All existing variable pay will continue to be paid as now
• A new contractual Permanent Variable Earnings Guarantee (PVEG) will be introduced. The objective of the scheme is to provide greater security of variable earnings for crew on Eurofleet and Worldwide. The PVEG means that crew in these fleets will be guaranteed to be paid at least the baseline amount of variable pay each year.

Dispute Item – Disruption Agreement


Settlement -

• The Disruption Agreement will continue to apply. A new process has been agreed to minimise the impact of disruption on both customers and crew. Under this the double night for Worldwide inbound services to the UK and Europe can be removed, but associated days off in the published roster will apply.
• When disruption takes place the IFCE management team will immediately advise duty representatives and crew colleagues when and how the Disruption Agreement has been applied. A review will take place of any disruption at the next joint meeting

Dispute item - Volunteer Cabin Crew

Settlement - A new company wide programme will be launched in all customer contact and customer support areas. The new programme will replace the current arrangements for voluntary cabin crew. The programme will also give cabin crew and other colleagues the chance to experience working in other areas across the business

Dispute Item – Pay & Productivity


Settlement –

• Increments
  • Incremental pay rises will be unaffected.

• Basic Pay
  • British Airways has offered a two year pay deal, effective from 1/2/2011 as follows:

•  
  • Year one 2011/12 the company will increase base pay based on December 2010 RPI and capped at 2.9%
  • Year two 2012/13 the company will increase base pay based on December 2011 RPI and capped at 3%

The next pay review will be effective from February 2013

•  
  • In addition a further 1.1% base pay increase in Year 1 and 0.5% in Year 2 is available to be paid subject to equivalent additional productivity savings being agreed with the company.

•  
  • It is the intention to hold discussions with a view to achieving this additional payment by the 1st July 2011.

Dispute Item – Staff Travel

Settlement – Following the acceptance and full implementation of the agreement and the new principles of how we work together, management will recommend to the Board that they return in full non-contractual staff travel concessionsSource:

[Watersidewonker]

Let's not remember the hard work done by our VCC to prolong this dispute it just seems all that back stabbing may have been in vain.

[Betty girl]

VCC,

Looks like you will still be able to sample the life of a cabin crew member!

I think that a lot of cabin crew will also enjoy seeing what some of you all do!

[Yellow Pen]

Betty Girl - The pilots deal was a complicated balance of trading surplus headcount for productivity improvements to retain jobs, whilst voluntary reducing staff numbers through VR for those who actually wanted to go. The remaining pay cut was simply the balance of savings required. I don't doubt the pilots you spoke to told you what they did. That doesn't mean that they understand the mechanics or motivation behind the cut. Some don't. Next time you hear those sentiments, perhaps give them a little surprise by asking them if they'd prefer to have cancelled the 2.61% cut but instead had compulsory pilot redundancies with no guarantee that Last In First Out would be honoured. I find that tends to focus minds.

Waterside - the hard work of the VCC means today BASSA has capitulated and you can finally get to enjoy the pay rise that your non-union colleagues had months ago. Both you and I can be thankful for that.

[Caribbean Boy]

Let's remember the hard work done by everyone, including volunteers, non-striking cabin crew and others too numerous to mention, who broke the strikes and lay the ground for today's settlement.

[Juan Tugoh]

Colleagues in ground support services (GSS) have voted to accept a two-year pay and productivity deal that was unanimously recommended to them by their trade union, Unite.

There was a 73 per cent vote in favour of the deal, which includes:

4% rise in basic pay, backdated to January 2011
3.5% rise in basic pay in January 2012

So remind me how a pay deal that only matches our ground crew colleagues IF productivity targets are met is a win?

This is not a win, it is at best a settlement. None of the items that sparked the dispute have been achieved; NONE. The settlement is pretty much the same as that offered to and accepted by TW such a long time ago - this was rejected as "not good enough" - so what has changed?

BA could have imposed this same settlement - would it have then been acceptable? This is no win, it is an equitable settlement, BASSA and it's apologists, like WWW, claim a victory but it is hollow, and the unions power has been diminshed forever, UNITE will now have the power and BASSA (soon to be extinct) will no longer have the power to call strikes. They have been "done up like a kipper" they just cannot and will not accept this as it woud be crushing to their collective egos. Who cares, this is a great result for the sane and sensible and for the hard working, well respected and independently minded crew like BG. The PCCC on the other hand are the clear losers, they have lost their moment in the sun. They will not trouble us again; they lost when they did not have the guts or gumption to step into the light and disavow their anonymity.

Good luck to all, may this miserable episode be put behind us. A good result today.

[BENJAMIN321]

Juan, you are spot on -- difficult to still follow PCCC -- never any news posted and not many menbers posting on the forum -- why was it so difficult to be more transparent ?

[fruitbat]

There are a number of sad subtle things that have been lost, and needn't have, if BASSA had negotiated properly.

1) Promotion opportunities for those on legacy fleets have been massively reduced. If you are Main Crew now, that is pretty much where you will stay. Any retirements etc will just be filled by a new joiner on MF.

2) Because of the infighting between crew over staff travel, the previously 'grey' area of upgrades was defined. The CSD has now lost the right to upgrade forever, so a big perk has gone.

3) Routes will continue to transfer to MF. Many will see their favourite destinations go, perhaps where they have family etc.

4) Legacy crews will enjoy less and less variation in the routes they fly as MF expands.

5) BA doesn't need a VCC scheme anymore, it has MF. As it grows they negate the threat of strike calls from legacy crew. If BA decide to look for more cost savings during the next downturn, any threat of a strike will mean nothing.

It's all very sad, it didn't need to be this way. And to think some are hailing it as a 'victory'...

[MrBernoulli]

BASSA have had a real kicking here. They haven't gained a single, solitary thing they didn't have before they started their misguided actions. On the contrary, what they have lost is substantial:

• The introduction of Mixed Fleet that can only, with time as numbers grow, take routes.
• A disruption agreement that now tells them what will be happening i.e. doesn't ask for their opinion or 'permission'.
• Dismissals due to to puerile and juvenile behaviour, not least from the BASSA hierarchy. Those dismissals that have been to Employment Tribunal will not be rescinded - goodbye to DH!
• Staff travel benefits for a long period, that will only be returned after "the acceptance and full implementation of the agreement and the new principles of how we work together".
• Volunteer Cabin Crew (or whatever they will be called) will now be a permanent part of the scenery, thus largely negating any future attempts at cabin crew strikes.
• BASSA's 'Fortress Heathrow' loses control of the Gatwick cabin crew, who now get their own autonomy for negotiating
• The loss of one cabin crewmember on several fleets.

Whichever way anyone sane looks at it, Watersidewonker, BASSA-backside-kicked is the obvious picture. And BASSA's pointless hissy fit has gained you nothing, and cost the company hundreds of millions. Hooray for you!

[Watersidewonker]

Drinks anyone a great day for BASSA and its members with a backbone fantastic good at the office if only other unions could follow suit.

[nurjio]

WWW - in the immortal words from the final track of the best album of all time, FGTH - Welcome to the Pleasure Dome....

....may I suggest that....







'Wonker says, no more'.

[Yellow Pen]

Originally Posted by Watersidewonker

Drinks anyone a great day for BASSA and its members with a backbone fantastic good at the office if only other unions could follow suit.

Poor man's delirious, can't even form a sentence anymore. I guess that's what happens when you realise you've been had for the last 18 months.

[From Tunbridge Wells]

Yellow pen

Some still don't realise it and they're still spinning it as a victory but hey-ho!

[VCC]

Looks like it BettyGirl.....

I think it has be good for some of the ground staff to experience what it is like working in the air and the same for the crew to see what it is like working on the ground. We are all looking after the same passengers just at different times with different issues.

I know I have learnt allot on my flights and it answered a lot of unanswered questions and I now can use my new skills to serve passenger better.

BettyGirl you would be more than welcome to come and shadow me if you wanted to, to see if you would want to put your name down for the new scheme. PM me if your interested.

[Colonel White]

Winners and losers...

When I heard the news about the settlement and Len McC's pronouncement of it being a win-win, I was somewhat suprised. At least until I then had a bit of a think aboutit. Because in fact Unite,and in particular Len, have gained something out of this. Now the cynic in me would say that by showing initial solidarity with BASSA, Len enhanced his credentials as a candidate for the GS position. Certainly, he came across better than his opponents in that respect.

Then again, Unite would be hugely embarrassed if it emerged that its largest branch was guilty of financial incompetence because of its singular failure to publish any audited accounts for the past two years or so. That plus the infighting between the two branches in this disput would not be good for Unite's image. So being presented with the opportunity to bundle the dissolution of these two groups and starting from a clean slate is a definite win for Unite.

What about the BASA KtF crowd ? Well, they've been played by their leaders in both directions. The BASSA executive have suckered them in to keeping the gravy train rolling for a year longer than it needed to have. Unite have used them when it suited their purposes as examples of downtrodden workers, bullied by overbearing management. The Left have lapped it up, The middle class mum image they put cabin crew across as being would play well with voters, Just a pity that the demands were a bit OTT and so out of keeping with the economic times.

The KtF crowd will no doubt join the new branch. Whether they will assimilate or just stay a clique in the corner remains to be seen. If they take the assimilation route, they won't be total losers.

[HiFlyer14]

The PCCC on the other hand are the clear losers, they have lost their moment in the sun. They will not trouble us again; they lost when they did not have the guts or gumption to step into the light and disavow their anonymity.

The PCCC had the intelligence and the foresight to sign up nearly a year ago to THE EXACT SAME OFFER that BASSA are (probably) signing up to today, so I fail to see how they are "losers"? The PCCC have had a payrise since 1 Feb. I see that as success.

The PCCC never set out to be a union (that was forced upon it due to BASSA complaining to the certification office).
The PCCC didn't set out to destroy BASSA - they did that themselves as they now have virtually 50% less membership.

The PCCC was, as specified in all communications, simply a group of cabin crew getting together to save our customers from strike action, to save cabin crew jobs, to try and secure our terms and conditions and ultimately to save our company.

And we achieved 100% of those objectives. I'd say that was pretty successful.

[Juan Tugoh]

The PCCC had the intelligence and the foresight to sign up nearly a year ago to THE EXACT SAME OFFER that BASSA are signing up to today, so I fail to see how that is a "loss"? The PCCC have had a payrise since 1 Feb. I see that as success.

The PCCC never set out to be a union (that was forced upon it due to BASSA complaining to the certification office).

The PCCC didn't set out to destroy BASSA - they did that themselves as they now have virtually 50% less membership.

The PCCC was, as specified in all our communications, simply a group of cabin crew getting together to save our customers from strike action, to save our jobs, to try and secure our terms and conditions and ultimately to save our company.

And we achieved 100% of those objectives. I'd say that was pretty successful.
HiFlyer14 is online now Report Post Reply

Sorry to burst your bubble, but the payrise was to all that were not in the union, the PCCC had nothing to do with it, they had no part in that decision. Trying to claim it as a PCCC victory is opportunistic at best. The union status of the PCCC is an irrelevance because they have no voice and represent no-one.

The PCC had a wonderful opportunity to become something, all they have achieved is a footnote in history, their day has past due to a lack of courage.

A shame, as I had hoped you would take the opportunity to do better.

[Betty girl]

I have to say that the PCCC has been a great place to make contact with like minded people and be able to give each other support.

Whatever happens in the future, I will be forever grateful to High Flyer and the other PCCC admin staff for setting up their website where people were always polite and respectful to each other.

Well done High Flyer and thank you for all your hard work.

I myself at one point wanted High Flyer to come out of the shadows but then I thought about it and realised that I myself would not want to take on that mantle with all the nastiness that was happening. What she and the other PCCC founders did was great and I truly appreciate them.

it's very easy to sit and type behind a fake name, I should know ;but it would be a much harder thing to do if you had to say who you were. So think carefully before you criticise those that have helped many of us. I didn't see anyone else want to have their name out their in the BASSA mentalist arena! So you should not be criticising other, especially someone who has been so helpful to so many.