BA Strike - Your Thoughts & Questions
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Is it getting a bit stale, mate?
The simple truth is this:
Right now both sides have nothing to more to lose by staying as they are. And by continuing with the action they will each think they get a little bit stronger.
CC = look how long we can stick this out, and whatever the true numbers, the airline is unable to operate 100%
BA = we can cherry pick to operate the profitable routes, crew the less profitable ones at lower cost with wet lease and just wait it out as more and more CC drip feed back to work.
Finally, neither side is going to get much oxygen of publicity once the raillway guys come out. That affects far more people.
I give it another month at least. Any bets beyond that?
Right now both sides have nothing to more to lose by staying as they are. And by continuing with the action they will each think they get a little bit stronger.
CC = look how long we can stick this out, and whatever the true numbers, the airline is unable to operate 100%
BA = we can cherry pick to operate the profitable routes, crew the less profitable ones at lower cost with wet lease and just wait it out as more and more CC drip feed back to work.
Finally, neither side is going to get much oxygen of publicity once the raillway guys come out. That affects far more people.
I give it another month at least. Any bets beyond that?
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Fund Raising?
Over on the other site I see a post claiming Unite are going to raise £700,000 to support the CC strikers! Anyone got more on this development.
I'm becoming more and more convinced by the day that we are heading for an Armageddon like situ in mid June. With any luck the small percentage who make up the well poisoners on the CC side will be out on their proverbial ear at that point.
That said it is going to be a long haul (apologies for the unintended pun) for all concerned.
Think of all the man hours being diverted from the day to day running of the business being taken up by this completely unneccessary dispute.
I'm becoming more and more convinced by the day that we are heading for an Armageddon like situ in mid June. With any luck the small percentage who make up the well poisoners on the CC side will be out on their proverbial ear at that point.
That said it is going to be a long haul (apologies for the unintended pun) for all concerned.
Think of all the man hours being diverted from the day to day running of the business being taken up by this completely unneccessary dispute.
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TruBlu:
I have this link courtesy of ian001 from another thread which is not absolutely current, but interesting nonetheless:
http://www.unitetheunion.com/pdf/002...2009-08-13.pdf
I have heard of members already being upset with this.
Surely BASSA members must be wondering what they are paying dues for if they need to do this after only, what is it, 5 or 6 days, and you don't have that many individuals who have actually been labled as on strike.
Incredible. Especially considering the way these Union reps can spend.
I have this link courtesy of ian001 from another thread which is not absolutely current, but interesting nonetheless:
http://www.unitetheunion.com/pdf/002...2009-08-13.pdf
I have heard of members already being upset with this.
Surely BASSA members must be wondering what they are paying dues for if they need to do this after only, what is it, 5 or 6 days, and you don't have that many individuals who have actually been labled as on strike.
Incredible. Especially considering the way these Union reps can spend.
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TruBlu123
Welcome back, we've missed you. You've obviously been on a LOOONG vacation.
Re the above; t certainly is looking like a war of attrition, a bit like the miners' strike unfortunately. Commercially there can only be one winner but the casualties along the way are going to be very distressing. Maybe common sense will breakout before it's too late.
Re the above; t certainly is looking like a war of attrition, a bit like the miners' strike unfortunately. Commercially there can only be one winner but the casualties along the way are going to be very distressing. Maybe common sense will breakout before it's too late.
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If so many of the cc are happy to return to work, it wont really matter what the UNITE reps want. By the sounds of it most cc are really peeved at UNITE anyway due to the fact that the last offer tabled by WW was never put to them for them to vote on. WW will have severely weakened the influence of UNITE and BA will be a much better airline for it.
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Breaking News
BBC R2 at 1600: Unite is to take the unprecedented action of levying all members of the TU in support of BA CC. Wow, I wonder how the ex Amicus guys who maintain to a very high standard BA's aircraft are going to react to that given what happened last week. If I was them I would say every so politely "no thanks brothers and sisters".
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I suspect that a lot of Unite members in other industries will also be unimpressed. Especially bearing in mind that in some there are alternate unions to join.
Sorry but if Unite did not have the funds they should not have gone down ths road and called a strike.
Sorry but if Unite did not have the funds they should not have gone down ths road and called a strike.
From their website
Unite steps up financial support for BA cabin crew - £700,000 to be raised for fight against cuts
29 March 2010
Unite, the union for BA cabin crew, has announced today (Monday) that it will raise £700,000 from Unite's branches to support cabin crew in their fight to protect standards and jobs at the airline.
The news comes as the cabin crew take their sixth day of industrial action. The funds will be in addition to the money the union is paying to crew in strike pay.
Tony Woodley, Unite joint general secretary said: "This is an unprecedented move and it shows that Unite is absolutely determined to give our members all the support they deserve in winning this battle against the BA bullies.
"We continue to search for a decent settlement in this dispute but cabin crew are not going to be driven back to work for lack of resources."
The proposal was agreed today (Monday) by the General Executive of Unite. A mandatory 2 percent levy will be placed on Unite's branches for the next quarter to support the strikers.
29 March 2010
Unite, the union for BA cabin crew, has announced today (Monday) that it will raise £700,000 from Unite's branches to support cabin crew in their fight to protect standards and jobs at the airline.
The news comes as the cabin crew take their sixth day of industrial action. The funds will be in addition to the money the union is paying to crew in strike pay.
Tony Woodley, Unite joint general secretary said: "This is an unprecedented move and it shows that Unite is absolutely determined to give our members all the support they deserve in winning this battle against the BA bullies.
"We continue to search for a decent settlement in this dispute but cabin crew are not going to be driven back to work for lack of resources."
The proposal was agreed today (Monday) by the General Executive of Unite. A mandatory 2 percent levy will be placed on Unite's branches for the next quarter to support the strikers.
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Originally Posted by Ancient Observer
Ordinary working people. - Passengers. Does he care?
Tony Woodley, Unite joint general secretary said: "This is an unprecedented move and it shows that Unite is absolutely determined to give our members all the support they deserve in winning this battle against the BA bullies.
We're only on day 6 for heavens sake!
Members of the AUEW and EETPU never wanted to be a part of Unite. However, their Finances meant that they had to.
I'm sure that hard-pressed fitters mates (and their partners) from Darlington, and on short time, will be delighted to pay for the Audi TTs and personal products for the BA Cabin Crew. One simply has to keep up appearances, you know!!
I'm sure that hard-pressed fitters mates (and their partners) from Darlington, and on short time, will be delighted to pay for the Audi TTs and personal products for the BA Cabin Crew. One simply has to keep up appearances, you know!!
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Amazing when you consider that Unite had £178 million in assets at the end of 2008 and has had an incredible amount of time to fund this action.
Individuals pay dues just so that they have these resources ready to go during these times.
From The Independent:
If I was a Unite member I'd be really interested in not only exactly why these funds are required, but how they are going to be spent. I simply find it unfair that they are taking money from workers due to their poor planning.
Individuals pay dues just so that they have these resources ready to go during these times.
From The Independent:
Joint leader Tony Woodley said the move was "unprecedented" and would raise £700,000, which will go on strike pay and other ways of supporting union members involved in the dispute.
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New BA statement:
Quote:
PROFIT OUTLOOK REMAINS UNCHANG ED
Contingency plans for the second period of industrial action. have again been very successful.
Over the first two days (March 27 and 28) the airline operated 308 or 83 per cent of its longhaul programme (273 or 78 per cent last weekend) and 623 or 67 per cent of its shorthaul programme (442 or 50 per cent last weekend). Total number of passenger flights increased 30 per cent from 715 to 931. Seat factors continued to be strong at 75 per cent in longhaul and 64 per cent in shorthaul. In addition the airline operated 61 positioning flights to carry cargo and return passengers home with minimum disruption, nine less than last weekend. Wet lease aircraft decreased from 22 to 11 (costing approximately £495,000 for the last two days) as we operated a larger number of our own aircraft. We operated 100 per cent of our normal schedule at Gatwick.
Over this busy Easter holiday air travel weekend, we flew 118,575 passengers, an increase of 37 per cent over the 86,262 carried last weekend.
This strong and improved operational performance made possible by dedicated BA colleagues has further reduced the impact of the disruption. The estimate is a daily impact of £5.5 million for each day this weekend. Any change to the cost impact for the remaining two days of industrial action will be announced later in the week if required.
Earnings expectations for the year ended March 31, 2010 continue broadly unchanged.
Quote:
PROFIT OUTLOOK REMAINS UNCHANG ED
Contingency plans for the second period of industrial action. have again been very successful.
Over the first two days (March 27 and 28) the airline operated 308 or 83 per cent of its longhaul programme (273 or 78 per cent last weekend) and 623 or 67 per cent of its shorthaul programme (442 or 50 per cent last weekend). Total number of passenger flights increased 30 per cent from 715 to 931. Seat factors continued to be strong at 75 per cent in longhaul and 64 per cent in shorthaul. In addition the airline operated 61 positioning flights to carry cargo and return passengers home with minimum disruption, nine less than last weekend. Wet lease aircraft decreased from 22 to 11 (costing approximately £495,000 for the last two days) as we operated a larger number of our own aircraft. We operated 100 per cent of our normal schedule at Gatwick.
Over this busy Easter holiday air travel weekend, we flew 118,575 passengers, an increase of 37 per cent over the 86,262 carried last weekend.
This strong and improved operational performance made possible by dedicated BA colleagues has further reduced the impact of the disruption. The estimate is a daily impact of £5.5 million for each day this weekend. Any change to the cost impact for the remaining two days of industrial action will be announced later in the week if required.
Earnings expectations for the year ended March 31, 2010 continue broadly unchanged.
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Even with the most optimistic spin Unite can only pay 2 days strike pay for the alleged 11600+ strikers.
Clearly there is not that many strikers hence more in the pot for later 'distribution', to, possibly the Labour Party if they behave?
I am betting there will be significant union resignations after yet another risible foot shooting exercise by McClusky. The man surely has ensured his own demise?
Word has it more Cabin Crew have reported today and relationships engendered on board aircraft with volunteers, cabin crew, pilots and passengers are very positive.
Extrapolating the arithmetic above perhaps the last striker standing will be paid big time when the nonsense concludes!
Clearly there is not that many strikers hence more in the pot for later 'distribution', to, possibly the Labour Party if they behave?
I am betting there will be significant union resignations after yet another risible foot shooting exercise by McClusky. The man surely has ensured his own demise?
Word has it more Cabin Crew have reported today and relationships engendered on board aircraft with volunteers, cabin crew, pilots and passengers are very positive.
Extrapolating the arithmetic above perhaps the last striker standing will be paid big time when the nonsense concludes!
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Let's see if I have this correct:
Millions of Unite members, most of them earning a fraction of a BA CSD's pay and with no travel or any other perks, are going to have to pay a 2% levy on their subscriptions to subsidize these CSD's so that they can continue to wreck the jobs of around 40,000 fellow employees at BA rather than do a little extra work.
Unite leaders scream at Walsh for "Imposing changes without consultation". Can we therefore take it that the 2% will not be imposed and that the workers will have to opt in rather than opt out.
...or is it different for the Union when they work out that their credibility is now dropping to zero?
Millions of Unite members, most of them earning a fraction of a BA CSD's pay and with no travel or any other perks, are going to have to pay a 2% levy on their subscriptions to subsidize these CSD's so that they can continue to wreck the jobs of around 40,000 fellow employees at BA rather than do a little extra work.
Unite leaders scream at Walsh for "Imposing changes without consultation". Can we therefore take it that the 2% will not be imposed and that the workers will have to opt in rather than opt out.
...or is it different for the Union when they work out that their credibility is now dropping to zero?
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Lou Scannon - that is a nice summary.
Of course the members will be consulted, and a democratic vote taken before this happens, because as far as Unite is concerned, "Negotiation" is our middle name. All fair and above board, and loads of verifiable FACTS, that sort of thing.
Of course the members will be consulted, and a democratic vote taken before this happens, because as far as Unite is concerned, "Negotiation" is our middle name. All fair and above board, and loads of verifiable FACTS, that sort of thing.
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The press have been reporting that BA pilots have been volunteering to work as cabin crew. Can I ask a couple of questions about this?
1) pilots have more stringent flight time limitations than cabin crew, so if some pilots are indeed working in the cabin, does this not disrupt their flying schedules and calculated rest periods etc.?
2) perhaps a slightly sensitive subject, but having read comments on this website, I think it is fair to say that some pilots believe they are 'above' working as cabin crew, if that is tactful way of putting it. There was a report on the BBC News website of a BA captain serving drinks in the cabin on a trans-atlantic flight. What do others think of this?
3) are pilots trained to carry out the duties of cabin crew? I do not mean serving drinks, I was thinking instead of being qualified to do the safety demonstration; co-ordinate an emergeny evacuation from the cabin rather than FD etc.
4) what uniform do you wear? Again, I find it hard to believe a BA captain would wear a male flight attendant's uniform. Am I wrong?
Interested to hear your thoughts.
Nick
1) pilots have more stringent flight time limitations than cabin crew, so if some pilots are indeed working in the cabin, does this not disrupt their flying schedules and calculated rest periods etc.?
2) perhaps a slightly sensitive subject, but having read comments on this website, I think it is fair to say that some pilots believe they are 'above' working as cabin crew, if that is tactful way of putting it. There was a report on the BBC News website of a BA captain serving drinks in the cabin on a trans-atlantic flight. What do others think of this?
3) are pilots trained to carry out the duties of cabin crew? I do not mean serving drinks, I was thinking instead of being qualified to do the safety demonstration; co-ordinate an emergeny evacuation from the cabin rather than FD etc.
4) what uniform do you wear? Again, I find it hard to believe a BA captain would wear a male flight attendant's uniform. Am I wrong?
Interested to hear your thoughts.
Nick