'Who do you support in the BA strike?' poll discussion

Jomo

Roger_Moore_007 wrote: »

You don't read the Daily Mail, Express or The Sun by any chance do you?

I do find that people tend to be jealous that I work in a company where there is a strong union that isn't prepared to be pushed around by the management.

I love your "I have many friends" who aren't part of a union comment, it's about as relevant as when somebody makes a racist comment followed by 'Some of my best friends are black'!

Who said anything about joining a union during a recession, I've been a member for years. Poor old public, having to change the airline they fly with while BA's staff have their jobs on the line.

Oh, and as far as I'm aware having an angry face at the end of your comment doesn't add any credence to your opinion.

You probably need the union 'daily' going by your attitude.

At least you'll be getting your money's worth:T

Roger_Moore_007

Jomo wrote: »

You probably need the union 'daily' going by your attitude.

At least you'll be getting your money's worth:T

Actually no I don't, just once a year when there are pay negotiations. I'm safe in the knowledge that if there is a significant issue that I've got the union there to back me up. Generally when I've had issues at work in the past though, I've not needed the union as the management know they have to be fair or risk things escalating unnecessarily.

Sheepdog_2

Astro1 wrote: »

Dear happyrichard,
I am BA crew and I love my job. I make around £22000 per year including basic pay (£13000)allowances, overtime and commission (fluctuates up or down), this means I come home with about £1425 per month, living in London and I have been with BA for just over 4 years. Being a competative job to get into, I spent years studying firstly for a diploma in International Hotel Management and then a degree in Business (hospitality and tourism), as well as improving my skills through various jobs in 5 star hotels before applying to BA. My question is, don't you think a company that prides itself on excellence should offer a decent salary package to attract the best applicants? Secondly, you state we dont understand what is required to ensure businesses remain competative in the current economic climate..... Let me assure you we are well aware of the sacrifices we all have to make, we even offered to take a pay cut amongst other things. Your message implies that airlines can only remain competative by slashing employee costs? Airlines can also gain competative advantage by differentiating themselves through excellent customer service by employing the best and most qualified people for the job, not bringing in cheap labour with a high turnover.

Well put.

BUT instead of striking, I would of thought that proving the point would be more effective.
You say the customers will suffer, Alright, you are at the front end. Been there, still there. (Service Engineer) Something goes wrong, OR not the service expected, You get it first.
Would not be too long before, the customers voted with their business.

Your job, look after the customers as best you can. IF you cannot, due to time etc, lets say, serve every one with coffee, The ones that did not get coffee are going to complain. You have time restrictions, for safety, every thing has to be stowed safely for landing, IF not, well customer safety at risk, cannot have that so would have to start clear up earlier, dont want to miss a very expensive landing slot.
The customers would not like to have to circle waiting for someone who has just received their coffee, to finish it. So they would then complain, (probably the 1st class, as they get served first)

Wishing every one a good outcome, Just glad I am not due to fly soon.

mjh421

Jo_F wrote: »

I worked in a union factory, and to be honest, I didn't agree with what the union were doing, this was during the 35 hour week strikes in aerospace, so much so that I actually left the union.

I have never joined a union again since, and definately wouldn't work where I had no coice about it.

Maybe I am a strange being, but I appreicate working, and I would like to stay in what ever job I have, and if that means having to make small sacrifices, like not having a payrise etc in order to help the company I work for out, then I am quite prepared to take it.

I am under contract to a company at the moment, in two capacities, one of them, I have just taken a 50% pay cut on my supervisor's pay, and it wasn't exactly a huge amount of pay in the first place, but I know that the company is struggling at the moment, and we have been promised it wil go back up when things get better, and I have no reason to doubt the company on this, we.. being the company and the workers, are all working together on it. It's in everyone's interests to do so.

I am confused by people who say on the one hand that they understand the conflict between working in an industry that has financial problems and a workforce who seek to defend their rights and working conditions, then on the other attack unions for taking militant action in order to defend these workers.

could it be they are not being honest, and are supporting a tyrannical chairman under the false guise of reason, I can say that people like this do themselves no favours and could find themselves in exactly the same position as these poor people who I believe would prefer to carry on working as normal.

I worked in such a firm were a compliant workforce backed down at every eventuality, originally when I joined the company there were 3000 plus people when I had to take redundancy or early retirement in 2002 there were 350 people left behind, this being a highly profitable multi national company in the Ice-cream business, who were the largest ice-cream manufacturer in the UK now the smallest. They also continue to reduce the remaining workforce and complain in our local paper that the Government should help with Tax reductions or they may close the factory here locally, so much for company loyalty. In addition, is it any surprise that so many companies have black holes in their pension funds, it is no surprise to me!!!!

People should not bury their heads in the sand like the anti union brigade but recognise the very great threat to our economic well being from people who just don't care about anything other than their own personal gain.

leathersofa

" Poor old public, having to change the airline they fly with while BA's staff have their jobs on the line."

Funny you should say that.

I was at my nearest airport (in Scotland) today, dropping a relative off who was about to fly to London using bmi. There was a BA flight to London at about the same time as the bmi one. The queue at the bmi check-in desk was very long. Want to guess how many people were in the BA queue? None. Not one. I don't quite see how chasing away all the customers while BA's competitors pick them up safeguards anyone's BA job, but no doubt a Unite activist will tell me, me being a bit slow in these matters. Because funnily enough it seems to me that if your job's on the line, it might be quite helpful to have a few customers.

PhiltheBear

Roger_Moore_007 wrote: »

Poor old public, having to change the airline they fly with while BA's staff have their jobs on the line.

That's exactly the point. The BA staff are supposed to be there to serve their customers - e.g. the Public. If BA make them go away why should they ever want to come back?

The trouble is that most dedicated union members are too stupid or too ideologically motivated to see that. So they'll strike - and lose jobs. Good. Then they'll understand how the rest of us manage.

Roger_Moore_007

PhiltheBear wrote: »

That's exactly the point. The BA staff are supposed to be there to serve their customers - e.g. the Public. If BA make them go away why should they ever want to come back?

The trouble is that most dedicated union members are too stupid or too ideologically motivated to see that. So they'll strike - and lose jobs. Good. Then they'll understand how the rest of us manage.

Ah, I forgot, right-wing people are clever and left-wing people are stupid, now I understand.

I suppose it is wrong that the workers should want to protect what they've got, while people at the top like Willie Walsh collect their 'Fat Cat' bonuses each year for overseeing shambolic situations like the current one.

Why do people constantly miss the point about the strike, the people on strike are not doing it to upset the public, the fact that the public are affected is unfortunate. If BA could have spent more time negotiating this problem may have been avoided, even if they had offered a pay freeze and then an above inflation rise when the company figures improve it would probably have been enough.

Why should the front-line workers be the only ones to suffer here, surely after overseeing some of the worst financial figures and some of the worst PR headlines in the history of BA, Willie Walsh should have been on his bike long ago?

Jomo

Roger_Moore_007 wrote: »

Ah, I forgot, right-wing people are clever and left-wing people are stupid, now I understand.

I suppose it is wrong that the workers should want to protect what they've got, while people at the top like Willie Walsh collect their 'Fat Cat' bonuses each year for overseeing shambolic situations like the current one.

Why do people constantly miss the point about the strike, the people on strike are not doing it to upset the public, the fact that the public are affected is unfortunate. If BA could have spent more time negotiating this problem may have been avoided, even if they had offered a pay freeze and then an above inflation rise when the company figures improve it would probably have been enough.

Why should the front-line workers be the only ones to suffer here, surely after overseeing some of the worst financial figures and some of the worst PR headlines in the history of BA, Willie Walsh should have been on his bike long ago?

I think you totally miss the point.

You expect BA to maintain customers after costing them money?

Unfortunate - you say?!

Oh dear oh dear....very unfortunate indeed.

Roger_Moore_007

Jomo wrote: »

I think you totally miss the point.

You expect BA to maintain customers after costing them money?

Unfortunate - you say?!

Oh dear oh dear....very unfortunate indeed.

I know you will disagree with whatever I say for the sake of it, but did you not read where I said this could have been avoided if they had just spent more time negotiating? I don't expect BA to maintain anything, they should be offering full refunds if they're not able to provide staff to look after their passengers.

What are your thoughts on Willie Walsh?

xyzzy_2

Having read arguments for and against I am firmly of the opinion that this is a strike that Unite have engineered, and must be broken. There is no place in our society for this kind of union action. Surely the sensible crew MUST realise that the glory days are over. Look at what you get compared to others in the industry - this cannot continue. The next logincal step will be to fire those who are unwilling to change. I am certain there are thousands of Ryanair, Easyjet and other cabin crew who would LOVE to have these jobs. Personnaly, I find no difference in the quality of cabin crew from those airlines compared to BA. Airlines are not luxury businesses now, they are just in the people-moving business, and cost savings must happen to survive. A national airline is not some kind of protected business anymore. Neither should its employees expect protection from these pressures. Accept changes or leave. Get back to work and stop causing this widespread disruption to thousands of people. We can all choose other airlines you know.....