Easyjet faces pilot strike as pay talks fail
 

http://money.telegraph.co.uk/money/m...8/cneasy08.xml

No-frills airline Easyjet faces the threat of a pilot strike in the new year.

The British Air Line Pilot's Association (BALPA) has sent letters to Easyjet pilots asking them to consider some form of industrial action after a failure to reach an agreement on new payment terms.

Easyjet pilots will decide in the next few weeks on what action they should take - one option being discussed is a strike.

The decision to call for industrial action comes after pay negotiations between Easyjet, the union and the pilots broke down last month.

In November, Easyjet proposed that pilots and first officers accept an average annual salary increase of 2.7pc for the year ending October 2006, introduced by phased payments increased by 1.5pc from October this year and a further 1.2pc in April 2006.

It is understood that this offer was deemed unacceptable by some pilots. One source, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "The offer is rubbish - it's not going to be accepted by some pilots." The source claimed the new terms hardly constitutes a pay rise in real terms given that the rate of inflation is around 2.3pc. Another gripe is that the terms are being brought in over time.

Since negotiations broke down the rate of Easyjet pilots' subscriptions to BALPA have increased dramatically. "This is the straw that broke the camel's back," said the source.

An Easyjet spokesman confirmed that BALPA is asking its Easyjet members to consider industrial action. He said: "In an environment where fuel costs are high, the climate for airlines is difficult at the moment. We are seeking a settlement with our union partners which reflect the climate we are operating in."

A spokesman for BALPA said: "We hope the company rethinks its position."

In November, Easyjet reported a 9pc rise in pre-tax profits to £67.9m. Yesterday the company said it had carried 8.3pc more passenger last month, compared with November last year. The load factor - an indication of efficiency - last month was 80.2pc, down from 81.2pc in the same month last year. Easyjet shares rose 6¾ to 358p.

Well, it's obvious isn't it? The aiirline basically wants the pilots to subsidise it's profitability. It is more concerened about whether the company is good value for the investors it is slave to, rather than the pilots who break their backs every day to make it a good airline and keep the wheels from falling off.

A summary of our position, for the unititiated:
Approximately 140 pilots have left this year;the pilot recruiting market is red hot and this trend should continue next year;
They are taking a lot of new aircraft (35 A319's?) next year so expansion continues;
Pilot training costs are down as all new pilots are self funded via TRSS or the Cadet scheme;
Our terms and conditions have been allowed to slip well behind our competitors. Who is going to retire on 7% pension?;
The price of oil is slowly falling and affected all airlines equally (depending on hedging, etc);
Pilot productivity is up around 14%; heart attacks up 20%;
The company announced excellent profits and gave the management the usual raft of shares, ours were worth nothing;
Despite being in the flight deck almost 12 hours every day, they still want to remove company-provided crew food, and the loyalty bonus (which is ironic in itself since any loyalty shown is already one-way!!)
Pilot costs at 13% are already significantly lower than all other airlines.
We went through this 5 years ago, and as usual didn't learn a damn thing.The pay went up about 30% and they had to recruit offereing shares and golden handshakes.
Just maybe it is a revenue problem, not a cost problem. Maybe we don't charge enough for landing people in town rather than the boonies like RYR. How much is it worth to save an hour or more of somebody's day??
Lastly, if you read the other posts on this forum, easyJet is by far a pleasant place to work. Pilots are brought on to the office or suspended at will, often for trifling reasons and the Commanders authority is fifth behind commercial pressures. Even using sick or unfit pilots is not out of the question. While a pay rise will not fix an inherent attitude, maybe after we go on strike for, say, a few days, they may take us a bit more seriously.
One final thought: In the beginning we were modelled heavily on Southwest Ailrines whom Stelios flew with extensively then adapted the low-cost operation for Europe. They have 4000 pilots and lose about 2 a year, make far better profits than we ever will do, and treat their staff like gold. I know, having seen it myself. Two legacy carriers in Chapter 11 this last few months alone, but a funny little airline from Dallas who puts its staff before anything now has 400 aircraft and people who work for them would die before going anywhere else (their words). Am i getting through????

No chance of a strike. Thanks to the large number of freeloaders, BALPA coverage is only just over 50% in easyJet.

You've got to be in it, to win it.

dontdoit
 

Thats where you are wrong!
Membership % rising rapidly to support the action...

dontdoit, that may have been true in the past but the membership numbers are rising very rapidly indeed at the minute. The esteemed leadership has gone the extra mile to rattle just about everyone's cage and I can say with confidence that they now have a fight on their hands.

I think the time is now for every right thinking pilot to be in BALPA regardless of airline or position. Perhaps then the message may get across.:ok:

Numbers are rising very fast, most foreign based pilots have joined, heavy recruitment going on across the network, ex Dan Air guys joining too....
Watch this space because I am certain EZY management have bitten far more than they can chew this time....
It is very important not only for EZY pilots but for pilots across the industry that this fight is won by the pilots otherwise T&Cs will get worse and worse...
Its time to save the industry.

There are an awful lot of colds ,flu and sicknesss about in the busy period running up to Christmas.Its a stressful time for all involved.Make sure you don,t fly your valuable passengers whilst feeling less than 100%,remember your legal responsibilities to them.Be careful out there and good luck, your pilot colleagues industry wide are behind you.:ok:

Look it's easy.
Anyone that wants their conditions to improve should join BALPA just for the required period of voting and (if) actually going on strike.
As soon as it's all over you're free to leave the union.
Cost-wise it's gonna cost you peanuts for the short term and it may even result in improved working conditions!
Use it to your advantage.
I know I would.

As a long term sceptic of BALPA I have put aside most of my reservations about Unions and sent of my Direct Debit mandate.

My biggest reason is the company are treating me like a mushroom with regard to these talks. (kept in the dark and fed on Sh.te)

I would like to know both sides of the arguement and the only way I can do that is to join BALPA.

I quess I am going to view the subscription fee as a sort of professional insurance much the same way as medics have to be members of the BMA.

If it comes to a strike, I'll be at the front of the picket line with my brothers (and sisters):ok:

Easyjet pilots might like to consider the huge favour they will be doing the UK industry's pilots by going on strike. There is a developing culture of contempt amongst employers for pilots, driven by the perceived "success" of the Ry@nair approach.

Dont forget that all the senior employers get together at the "Aviation Club of London", a lunching club for them. How 'easy' it would be for a cartel view to emerge amongst them all with respect to pay, conditions and treatment of 'those infuriating technicians', as they see it, they are forced to employ and whose pay limits their room for executive bonuses.

Its all about power and greed, and they perceive that they have all of the former so can indulge in the latter, at your expense. I doubt easy or any other management group in the contemporary UK airline scene care if the heart attack rate, for example, is up as long as productivity is sky high. Indeed, things have become so cynical that I am sure a view exists that anything that reduces the number of people at the top of the pay scale is no bad thing from an employers perspective.

The first airline to adopt the Southwest (USA version, not the UK one that recently announced that it would be charging pilots for water drunk whilst on duty), methods IN FULL with their staff will have a world-beating business on their hands. Sad that the average UK/ EI employer just cant see that, and sticks to the Victorian millowner approach.

Best of luck to you all and thanks for leading the charge.

BALPA in easyJet grows stronger by the day. If you want to have a say join BALPA today !

There is no doubt that the ultimate aim of the people who run these airlines is to eventually reduce the salaries of pilots to the level of those people employed on ground duties. Anyone who thinks that pilots who joined the low cost airlines only get what they deserve should think again. These airlines have forced everyone in the industry to become more efficient but as usual the British employer sees it as an opportunity to screw the workers as well.
Their plan, in which they have largely succeeded, is to take the decision making process away from the pilot and as aircraft are now fully automated and very reliable, pilots generally do not have to demonstrate their skills, so why should they be paid so much money? It is against this background that Balpa have a fight on their hands and every pilot wanting a long term future should get behind this dispute.
easyjet have succeeded in turning what should be a good job into a tiresome ordeal for most of the people who fly the line. The main reason for the discontent really stems not from the high hours worked but from the numbers of roster changes given at short notice (especially changing a contactable before days off to a long four sector day with a late finish) . Everything else becomes more irritating when you are messed about in this way.
People whose lives are disrupted in this way deserve a premium payment just for turning up! The offer from the company in this case is actually an insult.

"Their plan, in which they have largely succeeded, is to take the decision making process away from the pilot and as aircraft are now fully automated and very reliable, pilots generally do not have to demonstrate their skills, so why should they be paid so much money? "

This is the propaganda airlines push out. I would state that airline flight crew have to demonstrate a high level of management skill every trip. A typical european winter, the busiest airspace in the world, AWOPS, RVSM, PRNAV SIDS and STARS, (all predicated on achieving great accuracy to ensure safety margins, that have been reduced, have been met and so need to be monitored like a hawk), de-icing, slot delays, crew duty hours, company minimum fuel flight plans, technical faults, passenger quirks, (the increasing drunkeness and consequent disorder shown by a minority of pax these days), all against the backdrop of fatigue-inducing, duty-limit days and whilst producing a 100% safe and also economically viable output in an error intolerant environment, and this is 'easy'? Doesn't seem like it to me.

Employers are mounting a sustained campaign to de-professionalise the image of flightcrew with a view to lowering salaries, whilst the career is actually getting harder as tolerances are reduced all round in the name of efficiency. Pilots are too self-effacing in view of such a sustained assault by employers.

It's time now all those who are still sitting on the fence saying yes yes i may join to now get their arses into gear. We need as much membership as possible so we can get this mickey mouse airline to give us some respect and a lifestyle we deserve for all the hard work and crap we have to put up with.

As I said above this is the chance for us the pilots to turn the industry around...If the fatcats can be offered large sums of money the sharing should be across the line to all the hard working employees who contribute to the success of the company.
Lets face it, most part of the industry is profitable, its not as if they cant afford it.
But we must not forget that its not just about money its also about the working conditions, work hard play hard get treated right...

It will be cold comfort for Easy pilots to know that in BA, pilots are (along with other groups) facing an assault on pensions, with the company simultaneously paying off debt in huge chunks whilst it claims it cannot afford to fund the pension shortfall.

The BA management are also mounting a 'back door' attack on our T's & C's whilst reaping the benefits of our 'can-do' attitude.

There are many pilots in BA who are watching the goings on in Easy with great interest....

Good luck guys, you hold all the cards.

Of course, if airlines in general (EJ a bit of a special case here, I know) did not operate a seniority system, pilots could happily leave and go elsewhere, which would jack up Ts&Cs a lot faster than any other means. It's the free market. Why shackle yourselves to this prehistoric set-up? Nobody else does.

One trouble with aviation is that it is largely a highly introspective industry - Easyjet pilots (and others elsewhere) may well feel aggrieved and have genuine complaints, within the perspective of airline operations.

However, the sustainability of a strike is often dependent on general public opinion - think firefighters? - there is no chance whatsoever of any widespread empathy and support from outside aviation for a pilots strike. Especially one over pay and conditions.

People would look at it in the same way as we would view footballers striking over their terms. I think I'd be inclined to agree with them.

Our dear, this will prove a quandry for at least one of the Australians working there, who managed to score his first airline job with Ansett in 1989, by taking a position during similar industrial action Down Under.

Watch your backs - some of the enemy might be within.

If you guys at Easy balot for industrial action you could may be join the guys at Thomas Cook and use the same 45 gallon drum to keep warm around.:ok:

Just start by working exactly to the rule book. Every defect in the tech log when it occurs, exact ftl hours, report on time not early etc to get paperwork done, don't hassle support teams just accept the job will be done when it can. Call in Fatigued when roster instabilty leaves you knackered. Joe public cannot complain at you working within the rules, safely. Go on strike and you lose support from the customer. This has to be the last resort.

Best of luck to you easy guys & girls, the rest of us are watching you and Balpa closely.:ok:

Interesting non- Easyjet people urging EZY pilots to take action or " being interested in developments". You can bet your life they are,- especially BA pilots who have seen EZYs phenomenal growth while their own network- especially ex the provinces-shrinks. If EZYs customers walk away, the others,- and the urgers on ,- benefit and EZYs pilots lose money and probably in some cases their jobs .
Promises such as " we are right behind you " are not worth the paper written on as the promisers will be nowhere in sight when the brown stuff hits the fan and EZY people pay the price.
The only honest form of industrial action is : if you don't like what is on offer and if it really is that terrible then go to someone who gives what you want. Simple!

It is simple, but not the way you think.

Nobody gets paid what they're worth. If they did, nurses, teachers and missionaries would be paid much more than they are.

It is simple............. you get paid what you have the muscle to demand. And in this dispute, muscle equates to BALPA membership percentage.

I cant imagine why Mr Harrisson would not want to sort this matter out as quickly as possible, surely joining a new company and falling out with the majority of your work force as soon as you get there, would be forever damaging...

Don't forget that Easy's Ops Dir is none other than Micky Sucks who was trained by none other than BA, and is a graduate of the three-week-how-to-%^&*-the-staff-over-and-cash-in-with-a-big-bucks-bonus course at the Harvard Business school.

I think you'll be surprised at what public support you might find. There are rallies in Eire today in support of the ferry workers who are the latest victims of this caring management attitude.

Go Easy! There are others just behind you.

I wrote this on 17th January 2003. Unfortunately you didn’t act along these lines at the time, so I guess that’s why you’re forced to now. Best of luck and please all join BALPA.

Guys & Gals of Easyjet

I know that it’s real easy (no pun intended) looking in and commentating from a warmer and sandier location but in a former life with a UK employing airline, I was involved, with many others, in a potential strike position similar to your own.

Uncannily, the issue was not money but lifestyle quality (or lack of) produced by basing and roster issues – could it be true that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it?

Again by mysterious coincidence, our “management” was of the true British mould, being top-down, obdurate, arrogant, dismissive and greedy – sound familiar?

Relations between the indians and the chiefs rapidly became rancid and the inevitable ballot produced an overwhelming mandate for a strike forthwith, unless serious negotiations for change, along the lines proposed by the pilots, was entered into.
This ultimatum was naturally ignored by the “powers” and a date was duly forwarded to them for the first total withdrawal of labour.

So legend has it, the “management” then huddled round, fished out their empty fag packets to make their calculations on the back of (standard procedure for everything) and worked out:
(a) the ₤millions that would be hemorrhaged in that first strike day alone
(b) the effect that a prolonged strike would have on the company’s profitability and much more importantly, on their own personal annual bonuses
(c) the pilots’ proposal could actually save the company money
(d) they would look complete horses a*rses in the subsequent enquiry conducted by the shareholders, if the strike went ahead.

Result? Negotiations proceeded in a serious and businesslike manner, issues were resolved, the company saved money (jeez, some of these pilots seem to have more than three grey cells between them!) and peace and productivity reigned.

Lesson? If you all stick together, stay focused on the key issue, mean it when you say strike and fully comply with the national industrial relations legislation, then, as the taxi driver says, “you’re speaking the only language they understand, guv” and they can only sanely respond in one way.

So stay together and you won’t have to strike.

Caudillo wrote:Often but not in the case of easyJet. The fight is between the union and the employer. Joe Public just suffers the consequences.

The firefighters were replaced by the Army hence they needed public opinion on their side as they couldn't hold their employers by the short and curlies....public opinion makes no difference in this fight as we can hold our employer by the short and curlies :E

Skylion wrote: And if we all did that we'd be working for peanuts.

From the Korean Thread

Numbers are the only way to make this fly

Korean, Easy? Thomas Book-It ? I do believe I see something other than train headlights at the end of the tunnel; All of us in Aer-O'Leary wait our turn.

:cool:

Where is the infamous Norman Stanley Fletcher??????????

:} :yuk: :* :zzz: :hmm: :ok: :E :O :D

He's right here! I am just keeping a low profile so as not to make our Company Council's job more difficult than it already is. They are doing a great job representing our interests and they have my complete support.

I’ve also been looking through the archives and found my own small contribution to the debate then raging in 2003. Things do not seem to have changed much in the intervening three years and certainly the need for all “easy” pilots to be BALPA members is even clearer. Would suggest that all involved parties read the thread here .

24 January 2003

Bijave – post of 23 Jan

As you’ve been involved in a strike before, I’d guess you will agree that it’s a thing to avoid if at all possible.
Perhaps, paradoxically, the best preventative action may be for all non-members to join BALPA post haste, even at this late hour, and support the strike ballot which I believe will shortly be called.
This will both protect the pilots concerned plus send an exceptionally powerful message to their CEO and, given that they are dealing with a sane management group, will concentrate minds wonderfully, thus probably avoiding the need to strike.
If pilots do not band together in this manner, then the “suits” will inevitably interpret this as a spilt, will not take them seriously and dismiss the whole thing to the press as the pathetic whinings of a weak and cosseted bunch of prima-donna pilots.
Pilots will then have to strike, to crystallize the issue and the messy situation you so accurately describe will come about – not good for anyone!

........I’m sure that Anotherpost75 will not mind me similarly including his excellent post which has high “nail striking on the head” qualities of its own about it.

9 February 2003

Tandemrotor

Excellent post of 7 Feb. Hit the nail on the head.

To quote you, “But the bigger the stick, the less likely it has to be used.”

Precisely – the more members, the bigger the stick – the bigger the stick the more they take notice – the more they take notice, the easier it is to get your message over and get some real terms and conditions as opposed to the opening shot “try-on” your “management” is currently laughing about behind your backs.

As discerning readers will gather, I’m outside the fray and in the words of one of your less discerning colleagues, “stick(ing) to making sandcastles in the desert”. I am however, nearing the end of an eventful professional flying career and whilst my kids affectionately indulge me as an old dinosaur they nevertheless acknowledge that I seem now to be able to view events with a measured perspective and, on a good day with a following wind, not too shoddy a recall of detail.

I exercise the same perspective and recall now and would like to reassure younger Easy pilots that history is merely repeating itself and that there have been similar tussles between pilot bodies and the plethora of ex-dog meat salesmen, baked bean peddlers and snake oil specialists placed above us as management “experts” and intent on “new-brooming” their way to enhanced profits, higher personal bonuses and onward and upward boosts to future positions in the truly stellar reaches of “gravy”.

There have historically been two pilot body responses that I have ever been able to observe. Either they remain supine and apathetic, accepting the diktat from the latest arrivist ignoramus, hence becoming collectively responsible for the inevitable slide in their own terms and conditions plus the accelerating contempt in which they are held by the ever more powerful “management”, or they have done something about it. In the latter case, inevitably, the precondition for action has been strong BALPA membership which has point blank refused to accept unilateral contract changes or onerous terms and conditions and has made this stance crystal clear to both “management” and BALPA. They have similarly made crystal clear that, as a last resort, they have been prepared to sanction 24 hour work stoppages on dates of their own choosing and that they would continue this stance until an equitable settlement was reached between both parties. I have noticed over the years that this collectivism and frame of mind has produced real power for the pilot bodies concerned, as I have further noticed that “managements” seem to respond with impressive alacrity and freshly concentrated, highly accommodating minds only to such naked displays of power and intent, following their consideration of the immediate and dramatic effect that such brief power exercises will have on Cash Flow, Profitability and Share Price.

All of which is to say, to non-BALPA members, please remember that it is only this power that will sway your tormentors and secure your legitimate aspirations to fair treatment and the quiet enjoyment of your profession, following years of qualifying work. Please join the Association now!

I have mentioned before that my motivation for writing on this thread is that I am an ardent supporter of the legitimate aspirations, collective welfare and reclaimed standing of ourselves, the worldwide professional pilot body. As things stand, however, I’ll be very pleased to shortly be leaving it, as, along with so many others, I’ve seen a gradual erosion in our standing, remuneration and employment conditions, all of which we are entirely responsible for, solely as a result of our unwillingness or inability to combine and fight these depradations. Young men and women of Easy, reverse this process now. Stand together and defeat your foe. Please believe me that they will be absolutely terrified if you combine – I’ve seen it before with my own eyes!

Finally, a note to BALPA. Will you kindly stop being so bloody pathetic and do a proper job. The membership is not getting value for money!

........That final note pertains to the situation in 2003 - I'm sure BALPA is now doing a great job - best of luck to you all highcirrus

Airlines come and go. The pilot population is relatively constant.

The airline you fly with is largely down to circumstance and luck. It is not the terms and conditions of "Easyjet" or "BA" we should be fighting for; it is those of the pilot community.

Join Balpa. United we stand.

Ain't that the truth brother." they don't like it up them Mr Mainwaring" go on, chaps & chapesses ,you know you want to!

This is the first time in easyJet's history that the pilots are united in a NO vote against this pay deal. Even the 5/2/5/4 deal had mixed views.

Our BALPA council are doing a fantastic job. We support them 100%.

For us and all future pilots let's keep this a career for life.

Rumour has it Mike sucks could well be on his way back into BA.
Watch this space

Hmm... Why would BA want to take back a Manager who previously deserted when they have just announced a massive cull of senior managers?

But back to Easy Jet... I certainly wish you all the best and I'm glad to hear that your company council is taking a hard line. The T&C's of our industry in general have taken some savage blows over recent years and its time the fight-back began.

Up until 911 things were just beginning to look up for us with EasyGoRyan chasing the wages up for type rated 737 pilots, but then Osama went and spoiled it all.

The good times can't be far away. It cost me £35k to train as a self improver 10/12 years ago, with the hope of an excellent salary and pension one day to look forward to. That equation seems to have changed more than slightly since then.

Supply and demand will always win in the end which is why the airlines have had it their own way for so long. Until the playing field tips in our direction, solidarity is the only option. They can't run an airline without pilots, can they?

I say again... "Good Luck".

"Why would BA want to take back a Manager who previously deserted"

Not QUITE what I heard the reason/reasons for 'leaving' was/were ;) - doubt he'd be back to fly? - and I understand some of the more 'exotic' posts may be going, but, hey!, we (I?) are/am going off thread