Why did not BA bother to approach BASSA to have the DA activated?

Even if BASSA would have said NO, it would have been a different matter as BA would have shown a bit of dignity instead of putting another imposition on us. I don't doubt for a second that BASSA would have allowed it to be activated. It's about gentlemen's agreement, something which our LT doesn't seem to be honouring.

I agree with Betty Girl that many crew, myself included, hate the idea of having 2 local nights after a diversion. BASSA have agreed to a reduction to 15 hours. However, as long as BA does not does seem to be willing to reach an agreement with us, I and many others will be sticking to current scheduling agreements.

My next trip is an LR and if we divert I will be requesting 2 local nights as per our agreement.

Crew, please. Remember that our DA is contractual and they cannot suspend nor sack you for requesting it.

Stick to your current agreements.

Such an insult.

I think that you will find MANY crew who are devoted and passionate about their jobs. I love my job more than anything and make sure that every single passenger who gets off the aircraft is pleased.

MissM
 

Be careful with this one. BA can and it appears already have sacked employees for whatever they want, if you believe all that is posted on pprune.

I have been doing some reading on disruption due to bad weather and there has been opinion that "a proportionate means to meet a legitimate aim" which may be recovering from disruption, could be seen as a SOSR defense for an unfair dismissal claim.

This is a rather truncated explanation and is my personal view, so feel free to rip it to shreds!

BA seem to be good at suspending and sacking crew for many reasons.

The DA, as we have been told, appears to be contractual and adheres to our agreements.

As much as I hate being stuck downroute after a diversion, and the inconvenice caused to our customers (believe it or not but myself and many crew care) for a long time, I'm actually pleased to see that BASSA have agreed to a reduction of it. 2 local nights downroute was only made as a solution from our LR agreement.

We are not all selfish.

MissM
 

Gosh MissM, a glimmer of reason and good cheer.
Happy New Year!

Miss M.

Time after time you berate BA to the point of hatred. A question. WHY do you not leave BA? Your animosity know no bounds or are YOU selfish after all.

MissM
 

Only the foolish would think that all BA cabin crew are selfish.

Surrey Towers

Because some of us have created ourselves a career with BA and brought the company to where it is today. We are not going to let a selfish CEO destroy what we have achieved for his selfish reasons.

We are a strong community.

MissM, it has been stated numerous times before but as usual you appear to ignore the facts that don't fit in with your view point. BA did seek permission to activate the DA, this permission was NOT granted by the Chairperson of Bassa. This can be substantiated by a news item posted on the Bassa forum on Dec 18th by the bassa chairperson.

•*BASSA•*Login

Instead Bassa's chairperson insisted that BF contact her personally for an explanation of Bassa's perceived breaches of the DA during the last snow fall. Permission was given last time only on the condition that no Volunteer Cabin Crew or Mixed Fleet crew were to operate whilst legacy crew sat at home, this Bassa believes BA breached.

This is probably aimed at MissM... I'm an engineer for BA and over the last 10 or 20 years we've changed the way we work. We've made significant changes which have meant greater productivity and cut out unnecessary work. Litebulbs will probably back me up on that! As a consequence BA are not starting a new line of engineers to undercut or replace us. Can you tell me any changes BASSA have made to improve your efficiency?

Miss M
 

The 48hr rule after a diversion has been an outdated process for years, which from simply a crew point of view has gone against us, as many of us have families to get back to for example. You could divert to LGW, yet Bassa would insist that the crew stay in a hotel 30 miles from LHR for 2 days!!! Bonkers.
Lets not even talk about the problems it brings to BA from an operation point of view, or the promlems it leaves our customers. Bassa have known this for years. BUT, would they ever think to be proactive and go to BA and change it. NO WAY. The simple fact is, this would still be the same in 2020 and longer if Bassa were allowed to keep it. What hacks me off so much about Bassa, is that they don't even try to change something that would actually BENEFIT their members. No, just keep the status quo. :ugh::ugh:

Miss M Wrote Um... no. Some cabin crew have been employed by BA for a substantial number of years. They have, along with the other 30,000+ employees of the company, contributed at times to its profitability. Cabin crew have also been responsible for more lost days due to sickness, created more uncertainty for BA's customers with threats of strike action, actually walked out for more strike days than any other part of the airline and as such have probably done more damage to the company's overall profitability than any other part of the workforce. Sorry to burst your bubble.

I don't doubt that cabin crew are a strong community, however, it would appear that not all of that community believe that strike action is the best way to resolve this dispute, as evidenced by the numbers who reported for work earlier this year. What was the soubriquet applied ?? Oh yes, Sausage Chips And Beans. Such a wonderful feel of community spirit. I might disagree with my colleagues at times, but I will defend their right to hold an opposing view to my own. What I cannot condone is the abuse that the strikers have hurled at colleagues who simply believed that striking was wrong. The acrimonious comments heaped on colleagues from across the airline who volunteered to take on cabin crew roles in order to keep the company flying have been totally unwarranted. We are just people who hold a very different viewpoint on what the effect of strike action could be on BA. We wish to preserve the jobs of the other 75% of workers who make up this company.

Judging from the turnout, it would seem that over half of cabin crew also hold a similar view. They may have voted to 'send a message', but clearly did not want to walk out. Is that the action of a strong community ?

What selfish reasons did the CEO have ? I thought that CEO's were put in place to manage the company on behalf of the shareholders. The object of the exercise being to provide shareholders with a good return on investment and ensuring the long term profitability of the organisation. CEO's tend to have their rewards package tied very closely to the profitability of the company, so it is target driven and a chunk of it is in share options etc. The targets are set by the board.

I would suggest that the outgoing CEO has done a good job at ensuring that a lot of the fat has been trimmed from BA. He has halved the number of senior managers, reduced the rest of the management population by a third, driven through changes in working practices on ground staff that has seen significant cost savings. He has also steered the company through one of the most turbulent periods in air transport, with the twin challenges of a downturn in premium demand as a result of the global economy, plus the rise of the low cost operators. He also managed to get the company to achieve a 10% profit margin, something that had eluded previous CEOs. I don't think that is destroying the company. Sure, it has been painful, but as the saying goes, you can't make an omlette without breaking a few eggs.

BA is in a better position now than it would have been if he had not pushed through these changes. It would be in an even better position if cabin crew would recognise the need for change in their own area and stop what a lot of other staff see to be a pointless dispute. .

BA Strategy
 

It's interesting that BA appear to be encouraging crew to leave BASSA without actually breaking the law - plenty of rumours about the new individual offer before it was made public, and no actual proof required of non-membership.

So far everything that BA has done has been carefully considered. If they really want the moderates who would have been likely to vote no to a strike to not take part in the ballot, it implies that they are trying to engineer are yes vote by a smaller Union.

Why?

That will be 6th, globally. It's nice to see the cabin crew acknowledge that they , single-handedly, pulled us down the table to 6th.:sad:

Seriously though, whilst there are a great number of cabin crew who recognise the business we are in, who care passionately about the customer and recognise the value of repeat business, they are greatly overshadowed by a militant minority, whose only desire is to provide the minimum and bleat about the injustice of it all in their rush to the bunks (90 mins on a JFK, anyone?). Whilst grasping every penny from BA that they can, including invoking the 48 hour rest claim in the event of a diversion. Is this . the behaviours of a group who This is a job, as recently identified by miss M, not a career. One that she and a number of her selfish colleagues appear to be prepared to put at risk.:ugh:

Gonna have to jump to Miss M's defense a little here and say that, following the strikes, some of the BEST crew I worked with were also some of the most militant.

The majority of us, regardless of what side of the fence we're on, do love the job and love looking after the customer. Those customers will suffer if there's a strike - such is the nature of the beast - but when not striking even those who have been following Bassa's misguided advice from day one are keen to leave these issues off the aircraft.

Sorry, there is something not quite right here. If cabi
n crew really love to serve customers, how does that square with causing disruption and/or acting in a manner calculated to dissuade customers from flying BA? If they really put customers first, they would not behave in this way.

Perhaps they could try negotiating with the co. in a new way.:confused:
i.e. something other than NO!:E

... which is part of the problem.

"Cabin crew" is not a career position. It is a job. Yes, it can lead to career opportunities within the company but it is not a career in itself.

Dave Block,
Any job can be a career for someone.

You are very brave coming on a thread specifically set up for cabin crew to air their thoughts on an international forum and say that none of us have a career.

A lot of us don't agree with how Unite and Bassa have dealt with BA but this general attitude that being cabin crew is unskilled and should be low paid and not anything that someone might want to do long term and therefore not be a career is something that I don't think many of us would agree with.