Unfortunately herein lies the problem. The union don't know what the crew want, and haven't every time they've sat around the table with VS management. Why should it be any different in the future?

Hey Fruitbat, I don't know why you're boasting about earning that amount of money for being delayed!! We earn £5 per hour for being delayed and we can be delayed as much as 4 or 5 hours ON THE AIRCRAFT WITH PASSENGERS!!!!

I can hear you're jealous already, so just to add insult to injury, we could be on a 10 hour flight and not get any crew rest either because the company removed the crew rest area as a cost cutting measure so stick that in your pipe and smoke it!!

lol lol :ok:

016FSM
I suggest you re-read my post. I'm BA Flight Crew and am genuinely amazed at the money our cabin crew are paid for just being late. I, for the record, get absolutely zero extra for that trip. Some of my good friends work for Virgin as cabin crew, hence my interest. I have always admired their work ethic and loyalty to the Virgin ethos. It only makes my view of my BA CC collleagues dimmer, they are very well paid and yet still complain as if they have a bum deal.
I have no doubt you deserve a better deal, but the splits in your community do not bode well. Strikes are nasty, harrowing experiences. You may have a manager on the phone telling you to come to work or face the sack and court. Only if you have a strong Union and a united workforce can you sustain that pressure, otherwise it will crumple.
And, one last thing. The reason our cabin crew got stuffed last year was that Willie Walsh was able to show the Union leader that 700 CC had already phoned in sick rather than face going on strike. It proved they had no stomach for a fight and BASSA will never be the same again.
Good luck all, you deserve way better

Fruitbat I think there was a rather large amount of tongue-in-cheek sarcasm in 016FSM's post :}

Ha ha ha ha ha, thank you Sinala, i'm glad it wasn't totally ovelooked! :ok:

Fruitbat, wow. I'm BA Cabin Crew at Heathrow (WW) and I'm shocked to read your post. How can there be such hatred between our two close-knit groups of colleagues?!

I know that some of my own cabin crew colleagues can treat flight crew with disdain and that's completely unacceptable, but I don't recall ever hearing cabin crew speak about flight crew in the way you've just spoken about us.

We have those beneficial terms because that's what our unions have agreed for us. You have some fantastic terms that many cabin crew think are ridiculous but as in our situation, that's what your union has agreed on your behalf so I say bravo.

We shouldn't be fighting against eachother and arguing over what cabin crew get vs. flight crew, we should be fighting to ensure each group gets the best possible deal from the company without weakening the company to breaking point (or coming remotely close).

I second that Eddy.

Fruitbat - It's not really upto you to decide on BA Ts&Cs for cabin crew. Why are you so bitter about it?

This is the VIRGIN Strike thread not Slag BA crew off.

Also Virgin makes approx 40million pre tax profit per year, BA announced on the 3rd Aug 07, GBP263 million pre tax profit for the quarter leading upto aug. There in lies the difference. So can we PLEASE stop arguing VIRGIN VS BA and get back to VS cabin crew and their plight for better Ts&Cs, which they do deserve.

Fruitbat, you are not alone. I was on a Eastern Seaboard layover and the CC were complaining about their T&C, I mentioned the VS situation and quite frankly they couldn't give a stuff about anyone but themselves - but its the sheer arrogance that BA CC feel hard done by that took my breath away. :ugh:

I know a few VS Crew and sadly it seems that any action will crumble away as the dates draw close.

So why were our flightcrew allowed to compare themselves to BA as argument for grande pay rise and we are not ? There should not be one rule for one and one for the other when comparing ourselves to colleagues in the same line of work regardless of industry.

Yes there will always be a delta between our terms, however the gap is increasing significantly and serious adjustment is needed, no - not to bring it inline with BA, but to bring it closer to most other airlines, out of the gutter.

p.s. if any manager phones me and tells me to come into work or face the sack, name number and that info goes straight to the union, we will see who gets sacked first !:ok:

Darkstar, FruitBat, I'd tend to agree that some crew can be selfish when it comes to our terms and conditions. I'll admit that I'm rather well looked after by the company but that's not to say there isn't more than I feel we, as crew, deserve. That doesn't have to be money, time off or promotion, though. It could be a variety of things.

The people who complain about being grossly underpaid or overworked are, in my opinion, delusional. BUT it still doesn't really make it any of YOUR concern as a member of flight crew. Look after your own workgroup and, as long as others don't demand so much we'll bring the company to its knees, you shouldn't worry about what anyone else is earning.

VCCM,

I agree with you VS cabin crew deserve to be paid more.

My comment is directed at Fruitbat. Comparing VS cc Ts&Cs to BA cc Ts&Cs is not only not realistic but irrelevant to your plight.

BA cc are very fortunate, some know it some don't but that has no relevance to this thread.

Just been informed by one of the VS crew that they are not allowed to do any swaps in January.

Anyone know the deal with this as was hoping to get on a trip with my mate who works for VS.

Is this all because of the strikes !

My LA flight was 3 crew down and not one empty seat. Dont you just love it!

Actually there is an embargo on all staff travel during the strike period, this is separate from VSwap being disabled.

3 Crew Down!!
 

Can you guys at BA imagine taking a flight 3 crew down?

We do it quite regularly and the company wonders why we're all getting p'd off. We get a measley £90 each for operating like that!

Remember, the reason you are crew down is because your colleagues are not turning up to work. Yesterday, when people were really needed, the company couldn't get hold of people because everyone they phoned on standby, didn't want to go to work - something to do with an impending New Years Party I'm sure - bloody disgusting if you ask us.

3 Crew down!
 

Yes it is disgusting, but lets not forget that the LA trip will get back on 30th Dec so well in time for new year and a good few days off after. So what the hell is going wrong? Obviously monthly SBY isn't working!

VCCM,

You do not have to inform the company that you will be taking industrial action (if you are a union member), and you are correct in your actions of reporting any member of staff who contacts you to (harass, bully, scare or intimidate) find out your intentions regarding reporting to work.

As someone said earlier on, I am glad weapons aren't allowed on the aircraft as the atmosphere can be horrible.

I am due to fly out on Day 1 and I personally don't think I will have anywhere near a full crew.

I am sad that it has got to this situation, how the management never seen it coming beggars belief and now departments are turning on each other & now we have started down the VS v BA argument!

You have to be focussed on what you want out of this industrial action, everything else is immaterial just now!

I predict 4.8% and no strings as this is the only settlement I can see that allows both sides to claim victory!

016FSM, I believe that BA crew their 747s with less crew than Virgin so your notion of a comparison on whether BA would crew their aircraft 3 crew down is irrelevant.

Eddy, the idea that your battle over your T&Cs is none of our business is a little wide of the mark when it is also our company that is being brought to strike. The outcome and knock on effects of the strike could effect the entire company workforce so, yes, I think I do have a vested interest! That is not to say that I think you are underpaid but I do think you are undertaking the wrong course of action. Best of luck to all of us.

Home today to be greeted with a letter from Richard Branson himself, in which he states....

"For some of you more pay than Virgin Atlantic can afford may be critical to your lifestyle and if that is the case you should consider working elsewhere"

i.e. if you thought we would pay you enough to make a career in the airline you are sorely wrong, we dont want old duffers we want school leavers with no backbone who still live at home and have no bills to pay.

Well, that letter has really pi$$ed me - way to go Dick !