preceded by
 

Thursday 12th May 2011 - 11.30am

ALL UNITE MEMBERS WELCOME

This meeting will be to give you a FULL update on where we have reached in talks with British Airways as they reach their conclusion.
It is important that all available members attend. Spread the word!


Jurys Inn Heathrow
Jurys Inn Heathrow Hotel, East Perimeter Rd
Hatton Cross
Heathrow, TW6 2SQ
UK

Two meetings on the same subject two different locations, two miles and half an hour apart. It is clear that the main players will not be able to be at both meetings. I see that the Unite trade union is well and truly organised!!!!
Particularly so as the first one states "ALL Unite Members welcome.

I wonder if it might get ugly at tomorrow's meeting (ie police get called).

Concluded to the content of both parties sounds good.

It sounds just as good as when TW and WW concluded a deal to the content of each, and hour or so before a strike was announced by BASSA :E

If accepted, it will be interesting to see if the contributions drop off. This thread should dry up overnight, because the SLF will be able to SLF again!

But if Bassa and high ranking officials within that association are saying it?

If so Litebulbs, then I would think (and hope) that this sorry saga will indeed be over. However I haven't seen any such postings.

Has anyone posted a link to positive words from BASSA? The last SWP update posted on the other thread seems pretty adamant that no settlement without immediate reinstatement of those dismissed, return to previous crewing levels, and disbandment of MF will be acceptable.

All will be revealed tomorrow no doubt.

confused....
 

I'm a little confused as to why Unite have called a meeting at a seperate location, half an hour before the BASSA meeting was scheduled.

Has the BASSA meeting now been cancelled, and is just the Unite one going ahead?

Or is this an attempt by Unite (and perhaps some BASSA reps?) to get the word out first and undermine the second meeting?

anyone have any idea?

The press releases sound good, but as has been mentioned a few posts up.... we have been here before....

No mystery.

One is BASSA the other CC89.

Hotel Mode
 

Thanks for the clarification.... could be an interesting day....

Gives them time to get the bouncy castle in.

Dress code: Striped pyjamas, star of David, Pig Masks, yellow t -shirts, ball and chain, red eye masks, small child, BMW M3, large PIMMS, I Love LA shirts, Porn star T shirts, Kitchen fitting posters.
:hmm:

From the Beeb
 

BA strike: Airline and union agree to end dispute
Union members are expected to be balloted over the next month

The Unite union has said that British Airways has agreed to restore travel concessions as part of a deal to end long-running industrial action.

An agreement to end the dispute will also see some staff receive top-up payments written into their contracts.

Both issues were at the centre of the bitter dispute which has lasted for almost two years and involved 22 days of strikes.

The agreement will now be put to a ballot of about 10,000 union members.

In a statement Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: "We always said that this dispute could only be settled by negotiation, not by confrontation or litigation. And so it has proved.

"I am particularly pleased that travel concessions will be restored," he said.

And from Sky
 

BA has agreed a deal with staff to end a two-year dispute that prompted a series of crippling strikes.

As Sky News revealed last night, members of Unite are meeting near Heathrow airport to hear details of the proposed deal and decide whether it should go out to a ballot to finally end the row.

The union describes it as an "honourable agreement" which will lead to the return of travel perks to cabin crew - removed by then-BA chief executive, Willie Walsh at the height of his row with Unite.

It is understood that progress has also been made on the other main sticking point covering disciplinary action against dozens of Unite members.

The proposed deal will cover too the issue of time off for union reps as well as the ability of Unite to represent staff working on BA's so-called new fleet.

Pay is also expected to be covered by the proposed agreement, which will be explained to today's mass meeting by Unite's general secretary Len McCluskey.

Any ballot will start within the next few weeks, with the result likely in July, ending any fears of further disruption to BA flights this summer.

It is understood that union officials will recommend the deal to cabin crew, who will then have to decide if they want a ballot or if it should be rejected, which would raise the prospect of more industrial action.

However, hopes are high that the dispute, the longest and most bitter in the transport industry for years, is close to being resolved.

The row started in February 2009 over cost-cutting but developed into a fallout over travel concessions taken away from union members who went on strike.

Members of Unite staged 22 days of strikes last year which cost BA over £150m and threats of further walkouts soured industrial relations at the airline.

Travel concessions were removed from those who took industrial action and there were a number of disciplinary cases taken against Unite members.

The two sides came close to a deal last year, but peace hopes collapsed, leaving the dispute deadlocked.

BA's former chief executive, Willie Walsh, moved on to head the airline's merger with Spanish carrier Iberia, and Unite elected Mr McCluskey to succeed former joint general secretaries Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson.

The change in leaderships gave a fresh impetus to moves to resolve the row, leading to new talks in recent weeks.

Unite members voted recently to stage more strikes, but the union held back from naming dates in a sign that progress could be made.

Around 7,000 Unite members were affected by the removal of travel concessions, an issue at the top of the union's agenda for resolving the dispute.

I'm sure that someone out there will be able to inform us what the strikers have received out of their strikes?? Where, exactly, is the positive benefit for strikers?

Has the "imposition" been removed? Are flights still departing 1 CC member down?

Meanwhile, what exactly have BA not got from this strike? I suspect the BA management feel a bit like Arsenal's "unbeatables", winning the league without losing a game.

Er, that's "Invincibles", Mr. Observer.

:}

Now that the details are coming through BA has not given way easily:

Staff travel will only be returned in full when new working relationships between BA and Unite are fully implemented. BASSA and CC89 will cease to be two independent branches.

Independent review of disciplinaries is only for uncompleted cases

Any further pay rises above previous offers have to be met by productivity savings.

This new Union bloke isn't much of a negotiator, is he?

The Untie bloke at Astra Zeneca negotiated for the full return of lost pay after the staff in Macclesfield went on strike.


On another point, the BBC are reporting this in their Business news. Shouldn't it be in the Sport news? A 10 - 0 win to BA??


ChicoG - thank you for the correction. That sounds better.

So what are the changes to the last offer agreed between WW and TW, but rejected by CC89 & BASSA?

Here's the old deal, from October 2010:

http://uniteba.com/ESW/Files/151010_...llectivev6.doc

Mixed Fleet were always allowed to join Unite, so that's not the big win it's being presented as.

What's the deal with the volunteer crew? Do they keep them or not?

There was a diehard interviewed on 5live just now who was very satisfied with everything that has been 'achieved' by the Union but was unhappy that Willie Walsh was still the boss.

That's a cracker. Innit.

Mmmmmm.

Big difference between being allowed to join and being represented by. Baggersup points out the salient implication of income stream.

I guess it's also syonara time for the PCCC, if Unite ties up mixed fleet, their % of the workforce will be unassailable.

Also, what do the loyal staff who worked through the industrial action get for their loyalty?

At least it looks as if sanity is being slowly restored, a corporate entity like this cannot have industrial troubles with several thousand employees on an ongoing basis, it looks really bad for the brand.

Regarding Mixed Fleet and union membership, Mixed Fleet is a lower paid and more transient workforce with no seniority, so they will be less prepared to pay £15 a month to Unite than other crews who have an interest in union representation to protect their career earnings.

I note that the union have several things to implement, then:

It appears there are rumblings at Bedfont about abandoning of all dispute litigation and the fact the mid fleet is still going to be a stand alone fleet and will continue to take routes. We don't know how strong these rumblings are or how many, but no doubt the death of BASSA will be a bitter pill for some to swallow.

It's funny what watching the news does. I've just had remind myself that there was no option available to Len other than to accept what BA offered in the hope that it could be made to look 'honourable' and fair with suitably cheerful wrapping paper, and a nice ribbon.

There was no option to strike.

For a moment, Len had me going.

No element of "revenge" for the BASSA hardliners in the proposed settlement that they evidently so long-for.

Rumblings at Bedfont maybe a sign that a postal ballot will result (yet again) in a rejection. Here's hoping the apathetic abstainers will have the wherewithal to actually vote this time and a resounding yes is returned.

A BASSA supporter on Sky opined that no settlement would have been possible with WW. In a way I think he's right - the union have so personalised this dispute and demonised WW to the extent that I doubt anything WW proposed (other perhaps than his own resignation) would ever have been accepted by the "faithful" :rolleyes:

Mariner 9.........
 

.........what makes you think BASSA would have accepted WW's resignation? http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...ies/thumbs.gif

I guess this means the end of the PCCC - it has missed its moment through it's own timidity. What a shame, it had lots of potential; an opportunity to break out from the confrontational approach to IR that BASSA represents. Now the issue has been dealt with and UNITE will represent Cabin Crew, there will be no impetus or reason to join a shadowy group that failed to show the moral courage (perhaps for very good reasons) to step into the light.

A missed opportunity I would say, and sadly, I suspect, we will revisit the whole sorry saga of cabin crew in dispute with the company within the next 5 years. BA has missed a once in a generation chance to reset it's relations with the CC unions.

over to you DH.....
 

So the union is going to recommend agreement by its members, and sacked reps will not be reinstated. BASSA and CC89 will be merged to create one branch... called Unite.

I wonder how long it will now take for DH to do the honorable thing, and offer his immediate resignation?

The battle is over, he is not a BA employee, will not be BA employee, and as I understand the rules, once the ballot result is in, he cannot continue to represent its members.

Tomatoes are calling.....

Well hopefully today is the start of the break-out of peace between BA and some of its cabin crew.

I do not think BA have been in any way unfair to their VCC or staff who worked through the strikes, so I really hope they are comfortable with todays news. Hopefully Betty Girl will give us her views later. They will also benefit in the long run from the productivity increase in pay as it was promised any better deal would also go to people who signed the earlier agreement (if targets are met), and have played a huge part in the survival and future success of their company.;):D

Dont want to sound too personal but I dont think some BASSA reps will be sorely missed by either side of this dispute.:ouch:

Well done to those cabin crew who stood their ground. They can be proud of what they've achieved, despite the BA PR machine doing its utmost to demonise them and create tensions between their own workforce.

I think BA knew they were on a hiding to nothing regarding the staff travel anyway. It must really piss some people off that Walsh promised the volunteers that they wouldn't get it back! He can't help himself that one.

Is it coincidence that as soon as he moves on, Williams speaks with BASSA and a deal is agreed?

Again, well done to the cabin crew and also Keith William's team.

Still confused about the position of the VCC Fleet created by BA. Now that they have created them, is it the case that they now run this fleet down following the (apparent) resolution to the dispute? Is there someone here who can illuminate?

Keith was standing at Willie's shoulder as the hard and controversial decisions were made, feeding him the financial info. and supporting him. They've done a great good/bad cop act and have got virtually everything they wanted. And they all love Keith! Brilliant.

Quote:
“Walsh is no finance person and is very emotionally driven. Keith is very driven, level-headed and straightforward,” one headhunter says. “They make a dynamic team. They work perfectly.” For his own part, Williams has spoken recently about his relationship with Walsh. “I know what he’s thinking and I know he knows what I’m thinking: we’ve had a pretty close relationship,” he told Bloomberg.
Keith was standing at Willie's shoulder as the hard and controversial decisions were made, feeding him the financial info. and supporting him. They've done a great good/bad cop act and have got virtually everything they wanted. And they all love Keith! Brilliant.

___________

MrPony - They might even let you join in for a 3-sum!! ;)

I wonder how much better off the BASSA members feel now, compared with two years ago?

Hi Betty,
Now that VCC are to be disbanded, it will mean that they will not be flying as cabin crew in order to maintain "recency"._ This will mean that those job-slots will become free for permanent cabin crew (either Mixed Fleet or any other)._ Therefore the current overmanning of cabin crew should be at an end and BettyGirl will not be short of work.
Keep safe, NotLangley

The return of staff travel in full was part of the previous offer agreed between WW and TW and BA was never going to let this side issue hold up a settlement.

The offer agreed between KW and LM actually has far more strings attached: a complete restructuring of the branches and relations between BA and Unite. Crew reps have to deliver on their side rather than make empty promises.

The deal is actually worse for the branches and crew than the previous offer. If it's easier to swallow because crew think Keith is a nice guy then so be it but it's absolutely clear from the terms of the offer that Keith is no fool and he understands exactly what BA has been up against.

This was probably a union win from BA :E