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BACON Pilots prepared to strike.

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Old 20th Jun 2006, 20:42
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Angry BACON Pilots prepared to strike.

Well?? Do we have the commitment and the guts of our mainline colleagues? Evan's letter is an insult to the intelligence, doubtless we shall be told that any industrial action will result in Company Closure. The sheer nerve of the man saying BA cannot afford to pay the deficit, and that BACON has no cash reserves. Mainline bought us and immediately asset stripped us of our LHR slots, that's why we have no cash reserves!!!
However, this is about principle. The deficit was known about when they bought us, it is on the record that they promised to preserve our pension entitlements, and now this.
Please please please let us all act as one, please lets involve those not actually members of the Final Salary scheme - this is what BALPA is for, and what it's supposed to be about. If they don't make the right noises now, I shall be very very disappointed.
It would be nice to be able to link the mainline problems with our own; for the first time in my life I can now see why secondary picketing was so important. Enough is bl00dy enough, Evans needs to be sorted out, I bet HIS pension isn't being tampered ith. This pension is a contractual obligation, and Evans, Boy Hutch, Witts etc all need to understand there is a line in the sand RIGHT HERE!!!!!
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Old 20th Jun 2006, 21:17
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Dear Capt C.

You are posting in a vacuum here as non of us have seen the "letter" and thus don't fully understand what you are trying to say.

Could you paste some detail - amazingly your mainline colleagues are keen to help but need some direction......
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Old 20th Jun 2006, 23:24
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Captain C

You are absolutely correct. pension provision is something that should unite ALL of us. I am utterly disgusted at the way those at the top of these organisations only lift their snouts out of the trough long enough to tell the workforce that their pensions are now unaffordable.

There is inevitability about the way this will pan out in mainline. Let's hope the same is true in the regions.
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Old 21st Jun 2006, 08:03
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come on lads - lets see the proof in the pudding!
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Old 21st Jun 2006, 10:16
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All well and good saying lets unite and strike but I for one am not on the final salary pension scheme and I could not afford to strike.

I'd be on the street within a week with all my training debts.
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Old 21st Jun 2006, 12:33
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The main problem with this is that not all of the pilots at BACON are affected. The Guys and gals who came into the shambles from Brymon rather than BRAL have a separate, money purchase based, scheme. Although this is not a huge issue in the crewroom on a day to day basis I have heard the odd "well it's alright for those BRAL people with the big pensions" (not that accurate an appraisal but still an underlying feeling with some). Would all of those, including new starters, really be prepared to risk their jobs to fight for rights they will never be able to have. Probably not.

I am not saying what the company are trying to do is right. It is clearly far from that but it is unlikely that BACON Balpa could get enough support for meaningful industrial action over this. For those of us on the Final Salary scheme our best hope is to try and do a deal with mainline Balpa that will tie us into the overall discussion on BA's pension problems.

What is clear that there is no easy solution. BA can't just fill the hole. What message would that send to those fighting for their rights in mainline they have an even stronger legal and moral position than we do. That just isn't going to happen. BA can't simply magic closed the hole in their own fund and they aren't about to do it for ours, so some kind of deal is going to have to be done. We will get a better deal if we can establish that, due to BA's contractual commitment to the pension at purchase, the BRAL scheme should be subject to the same negotiation and solution that is adopted for the main BA pension as a whole. Still won't be great but will be better than negotiating within BACON.

Finally, WW is looking for an excuse to rid himself of BA Connect. He likes the product not the company. It would be easy for the beancounters at Waterside to make him a case to simply close it any time he wants to impress the share holders or scare the unions. If they declare it bankrupt (which they could) the chances are we could lose nearly all of that money. Remember it's on the IOM not in the UK. Tread carefully when talking about industrial action.
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Old 21st Jun 2006, 13:28
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Can you enlighten us as to the content of D Evans' letter?
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Old 21st Jun 2006, 19:38
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Angry The Great Pensions Theft.

1. Pension entitlement cut to a career average rather than a final salary.

2. Employee contributions increased by nearly twenty percent.

3. Change in accrual rate to 1/55ths rather than 1/50ths.

4. Uplift of pension in payment changed to 2.5% with no RPI linkage.

The bottom line is the obscene rush to accomplish this by July. Evans talks of listening to the views of the employee groups before reaching his decision - clearly it is a done deal, and the speed with which the letter is to be followed by "forums" is ridiculous, the letter was dated 13th June, and the first forum was 15th June, then 16th on the IOM. The b@stard 'urges' us to attend the forums, and then says " it would be our intention, once we have completed the communication process with you and your fellow scheme members, to introduce the changes in July 2006 as we are obliged to address the BRAL scheme funding requirement identified in the 2005 valuation".
Well, if they were "obliged" why wait so bloody long since 2005, and why is July so important. I suggest that it is because they want to steamroller it through before enough opposition can be mounted. The only reason many senior guys have stayed with this one horse outfit is the pension scheme - watch the exodus if Evans gets his way. I restate the question - what is happening to HIS pension scheme, the fat two faced b@stard!!!!
Come on BALPA for chrissake there must be something we can do. I am disappointed though not too surprised by the attitude of the BACON BARPER equivalents, and I don't necessarily blame them. However, is it industrially necessary to have their support? Even the fifty per cent or so of final salary scheme members could bring this company to its knees in very short order and force it to at the very least come up with a fairer deal - this deficit didn't happen overnight. Furthermore, having asset stripped our Company, they are morally and ethically bound to put a little back in, and a 'little' is what it would be compared to the value of the slots they have taken, and the dubious accounting practices used to turn us from profit to loss. BACC - any chance of some linkage?
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Old 21st Jun 2006, 20:11
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Very Simple.... GET OUT.

With those jokers in charge are you surprised ?
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Old 22nd Jun 2006, 01:53
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Well, if it goes like it did here in the States, if the first few groups don't draw the line and say NO to concessions and loss of pension, then forget about it. The horse will be out of the barn and now management will be talking about needing to "remain competitive" with the newly castrated pilot groups at the first airlines that give up pay and pensions. Who knows what would have happened at Delta and Northwest if USAir and United had gone on strike (and probably out of business)?

The hard part is to be the ones to take the bullet for the rest of the industry. Who wants to be the one to lose their job (if it came to it) to save the rest of us?
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Old 22nd Jun 2006, 09:13
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Looking for a 'positive' here. I'm told the 'new' pension will be portable i.e. if you leave it goes with you.

If correct, the golden handcuffs holding many senior (and notso) pilots are off. For sure the pension is the main thing retaining this segment of BACON's pilot workforce.

I think expecting non-scheme pilots to strike for (us) BRAL scheme pilots is optomistic. Also Evans et al know it.
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Old 22nd Jun 2006, 10:16
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WW & the product.

So, WW likes the product but not the company, says, remarkably well informed, cheekyvisual. Well what would he replace it with then? BAR?

BAR lost BA £300million pa & BACON only "loses" 20 or so, that looks like a BIG saving to me. Assuming you accept the creative accounting in the 1st place.

As for morals, don't expect any. They were possible when the Ombudsman told BA/Brymon/CX that the Brymon pensioners had a MOral case for a claim re their disgarded FS pension, but the ruling was brushed asside.

If there is any moral case it is to eliminate the divided pension arrangements that give one pilot group an FS scheme & the others a lottery. After a decade or so of service my pension looks like £7kpa, I doubt it will be any better when I get to collect it either.

Also, BA mainline pensions will be what they will be without reference to BACON. Don't kid yourself that if BA m/l keep a great scheme that the "moral" issue will count that way round.

If the BACC are genuinily extending a helping hand it should be grasped. Divide and rule has always worked for management & collective action works for employees. Sadly it is like herding cats so far as pilots are concerned. Individualism rules.

There was an oppurtunity to draw a line in the sand a year or so ago & we collectively wimped out. Now here is the result.

Evans & co think we won't have the guts to stand up to them. They do NOT think that about the BACC & BA pilots for one simple reason. They have demonstrated a willingness to strike. We have dmonstrated the opposite.
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Old 22nd Jun 2006, 10:48
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Unhappy Herding Cats!

Herding cats eh, I like that, you're probably right too. The sheer diversity of individual pilots, backgrounds, length of service, pension entitlements, debt etc etc. not to mention the relatively small number of guys and gals who will actually 'stand up and be counted' probably means we're stuffed. Yet so un-necessary. Remember those times and people who did say NO. Remember Mel? Remember Flossies panic when we voted to maybe approve industrial action? BA management, not to mention our home grown fools are cowards, just like most bullies. It's such a shame, imagine as you queue at the post-office for your income support stamps and winter fuel allowance, you may see Evans, Hutchings, Witts, etc all drive past in the Merc/Jag/Beemer just back from the tropical winter hols they've bought on the strength of the bonuses awarded for keeping us all held down. You think I'm joking? Look at Ayling - he did very well out his incompetence, and mainly because he was the architect of the first big pension ripoff when NAPs was introduced. Then Edders - he cut and cut and cut - and wow, did you note the details of the payoff? Look at Lloyd's bonuses just this year - a paltry 330K, check it all out, they make a fortune out of saving money. I have no problems with that except when it's MY money they're using to make the cuts. BA mainline are much better at this than us, more united, and have more support from BALPA. I guarantee they will win their own pension battle, because they have collectively decided enough is enough, and despite the occasional whinge from jealous outsiders, they are right. I honestly believe this can be turned around for us too, but only if we act now, just like ml did. In reality, it's probably too late, we are not united enough, and we're too used to doing what we are told by a bunch of greedy, profiteering, incompetent @ssholes. The figures quoted by Ted really tell it all, even allowing for the exaggeration. BA use a devious accounting system but even allowing for that we do very very well compared to the equivalent BAR performance. The really worrying thing is that even though we roll over, (again), and accept the shafting, WW may still decide to dispose of us because in his own short term profit/loss figures, he will be shown to have achieved a miracle in cutting losses. So what to do - well, the main reason for staying has now been removed. You can just see in another couple of years that 'unforeseen factors' dictate a greater contribution from, with correspondingly lower benefits for, that well known bunch of lazy malingerers, the pilots.
I'd love to see where we all are in five years, our so called management will doubtless be alongside that idiot TDLF in well paid and secure management positions within mainline. Me, probably abroad, hopefully in the sandpit. We shall see.
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Old 22nd Jun 2006, 12:10
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It is true that the ex-Brymon crews (already shafted by BA over their pension scheme) could very well turn around and say "Not my problem mate"...

... but then when BACON management decide that they can't afford the cost of providing their private healthcare (which us ex-BRAL don't get), the precedent will have already been set.

Management will say it was just one of the many perks which is hitting the bottom line. They will say "We pay for our own healthcare from our own pockets", yet you can be sure it's very little in relative terms when you look at their salaries.

I pray that we agree to draw a line in the sand.. otherwise as previously stated, the 'golden handcuffs' are off and there is absolutely no reason to stay. Then there will be such a shortage of experienced crews that flights will be further affected, and we will subsidise our sister companies (Flightline and Titan) to such an extent that we are no longer viable and we will be shut down. It's a pretty vicious circle, and one which does not need to spiral out of control. The management are guilty of ignoring ALL the staff groups here. Proposals were put forward to help ease the pain of the Final Salary scheme, and share the costs, but they were dismissed out of hand, and dialogue was stopped. It is fairly typical of their 'management' style. They have already made their decision, and are currently trying to deceive the employees into believing that they are being engaged in 'meaningful dialogue'. These roadshows are a mere gesture to convince authorities that they have not taken the decisions unilaterally should anyone decide to pursue the matter legally. You can be sure that the pain of such changes are not being borne equally between management and the employees. Oh they will say "We are in the scheme too, and we are affected" but you can be sure they will be given a management-size financial painkiller to make it easier!
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Old 23rd Jun 2006, 11:02
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Got to say it.............You guys in BACON have got your just desserts! Particularly those of you ex BRAL who have sat fat dumb and happy in "fortress Manchester" content that your mates Hutch and his relos were in control after having spent a goodly apprenticeship honing their skills under Flossyfeatures. You were always going to be looked after weren't you?

You sat their as jet training jobs were dished out to your people who'd never flown a jet before by Anstead and all sorts of other little favours given to ease the passage from the Island and distanced yourself from the total carnage that was left in the wake of the Fosse and McLaren bulldozers.

As for bothering to give any support to your colleagues in the regions as they were disrupted time and time again, well you just couldnt be bothered could you, because you were all right Jack...eh?

So give me one single reason why those of us expecting less than £10K (Those in the Money purchase scheme-typical illustration) in retirement should put whats left of our pathetic company at risk to ensure that you get your £40K or thereabouts?

As for equating the Private health care carried over by a few ex Brymonites to the value of the Final salary scheme that you are all whinging about now..............get a life!! 30 quid a month against 30 thousand a year......ooh, let me see.that is a difficult one.!!

Sorry guys but you have lost the war before even the first battle.......hell half of you couldnt even be bothered to return your pay questionnaire.

As to the future of BACON, I reckon Willie has got a goodun and would be an idiot to let it go. Where else in the industry would he find such a bunch of divided spineless wimps who do absolutely everything they are told by management for the price of a bag of monkey nuts.
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Old 23rd Jun 2006, 12:05
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Noiffsorbuts, HERE HERE, could not have said it better
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Old 23rd Jun 2006, 12:27
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No ifs'rbutts

Sadly,what you say is spot on & illustrates the point of divide & rule vs collective action admirably.

The division has created the bitterness you & others feel & so now unity & action is impossible. 10 out of 10 to the management, who must be wetting their pants with laughter.

It is a case study in how selfishness begets selfishness. Our CC worked their butts off to get a healthy ammount of support for strike action last time to no avail - they cannae do it alone.

Reap what ye sow & all manner of other appropriate cliches..........either way Evans & co can play you lot like a stradivarius.
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Old 23rd Jun 2006, 13:57
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Question The grass IS greener.

It's rather sad to read this thread. You don't find internal dissension like this on the mainline thread. All I can say is that I'm glad I left; people still whinge but somehow stick together better, probably because they have not been divided and conquered like you lot. Can I say that having spent 11 years in BRAL?? well, yes, because I finally smelt the coffee. Am I sad - you bet, and most of all because it seems that Hutchings and his nepotistic arrogant stupid colleagues seem to have won. Just to correct one point - the management DON'T pay for their own healthcare, it's a free perk for them and all their families, just like the car, the share options, the expense account and the extra generous staff travel.
One question - is there ANY humiliation and shafting over that BRAL/BRYMON/BACX/BACN pilots won't accept? Is there ANY line in any sand anywhere???
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Old 23rd Jun 2006, 16:17
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Red face You blinked first!

Have not been on here for some considerable time - since leaving the Company I've been working too hard on new types and SOPs. However, it is so very very sad to see the state the company is now in. You guys unfortunately blinked first some time ago, and I fear nothing you can realistically, practically do will prevent the repeated application of the baseball bat, blunt end first, and you will be charged for the vaseline! If only you had had the balls to follow your BALPA council when they had DLF on the run, you might have negotiated from a position of strength, but now your weaknesses have been exposed and will be exploited mercilessly. The only thing puzzling me is why they didn't close the scheme altogether, because even that wouldn't have been too difficult. My only explanation is that then too many people would have left for pastures greener, and bumped up the training bill - mind you, it's only a matter of time; the next announcement will be unforeseen costs/deficit increases/mortality changes, and more cuts will be imposed. Do keep it all together though, as you are looking after my deferred pension!!!!! BTW, how is this year's pay rise looking?
I'm not trying to gloat, just suggesting you all look carefully in the mirror and see what BA and your own inept and bullying management is doing/has done to you, and more important how little you have done to protect your collective six!

Good luck boys - you'll need it.
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Old 28th Jun 2006, 17:03
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Noiffsorbutts-this is your first post so you are either management trying to drive a wedge or a very bitter individual who wishes ensure he/she remains anonymous. In the latter case you need to PM me and we can have a chat over a beer ...won't tell anyone who you are (I assume you have the courage of your convictions).
This is this a big issue for the management and they will be prepared to absorb strike action for a few weeks....after this the members will would probably fade. Our action needs to be sustainable.
This company lives on worked days off and disruption...even if one third of the workforce refused these duties for the rest of 2006 it would cost them a fortune.
The shrinking violets who believe the company will close if we upset the applecart need to speak to an accountant/BALPA rep re. the costs associated with such a closure.We may well be sold but it would be financial incompetence of the highest order to incur such MASSIVE closure costs when a company is starting to make a profit. Unfortunately confrontation is sometimes necessary...the line in the sand has been drawn and this is not going to be pretty.
Make no mistake this is our pension money going into the dividends paid to share holders/management bonuses.
If it is a choice between my families future financial security and BACON not posting a profit when management want it to then it is a no brainer.
To answer the question above yes there is one issue that we will not allow ourselves to be shafted on...and this is it.
Mainline poster support is appreciated.
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