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

panda60

As a regular user of BA longhaul flights I know that the crew spend alot less time looking after passengers than they do 'resting' and chatting in the galley... they, like everyone else on duty for paid work are there to work so what is their problem having to cover a very small additional amount of work when they are some of the highest paid employees in the industry?????? Don't they realise that passengers do have a choice and they could all be out of work if the airline folds... many other airlines have gone under and people still manage to arrange trips without them.. It would be a sad day that saw the end of British Airways but we are living in tough times... get real BA staff and look after the people who pay your wages!!!!

make-do=and-mend_2

They always choose their strike dates to coincide with school and bank holidays, just to upset as many travellers as possible. I feel so sorry for people who have their wedding plans and family holidays ruined. When you have saved for and planned a special event, the stress of your travel arrangements being cancelled must be dreadful. My own approach is simple - I don't have a passport and don't travel abroad! Saves money, too!

MrShed

Personally, I feel that the strikers are absolutely ludicrous.

Astro above mentions that they get paid a low amount for such highly trained staff etc.

The answer is simple - if you dont like the terms, leave and get another job.

We work in a labour market which is a free market, and is dictated by the basic economic laws of supply and demand.

As such, if a company was not paying sufficient pay for the market, then they would simply employ no-one, as no-one would apply.

The only reason that the strikers are striking is because they CANNOT get better terms elsewhere. If they could then they would simply leave.

The strikers go on and on about how BAs current terms and pay are poor - but no-one will put their money where their mouth is and leave.

The other point raised is that of restructuring etc - to which quite frankly the same point applies. If you dont like the proposed plans - leave, find another job. Many of us work day in day out with restructure and job losses hanging over our heads - we just get on with it.

I honestly dont understand this completely antiquitated and deluded opinion that employees (and, without offending anyone, low rung employees at that) feel that they have the ability to have a say in how their employer is run - thats not how it works!!!

Apologies for my diatribe. I just get a bit sick of strikers holding the country to ransom in order to try and force an artificial labour market - especially when the rest of us plod on, simply because we dont work for a public sector/ex public sector organisation.

jimbo24168

I only ever flew on BA once and that was one time too many. The cabin crew were so haughty that it was as if you should be grateful for their services.

If they don't like the pay then leave, get another job. They are only glorified trolley dollies anyway and I don't go along with this safety rubbish. A lot of professions have first aid training these days.

mrs_disney

I do sympathise with those on strike, however my BF worked for Aer Lingus for 18 yrs and recently took redundancy as she wanted to enjoy her life (quite right to). Before she went down the redundancy road 2 yrs previously she decided to clear her mortage on her Dublin city centre appartment, thanks in part to her good wage and the fact that she has been a fantastic money saving expert down thru the years.

As cabin crew she got to fly all over the world with hotels and food paid for got to spend time in cities like london paris new york los angeles etc etc. Granted some of the stays were only over night but the cabin crew got out every night results being now if any of her friends are visiting a city she has been to we are told where to eat and stay, so please dont try to say BA cabin crew are hard done by there is a recession on no matter what the government say, companies are making cuts all the time and if what I am reading is right new people being taken on are not offered the same contracts as previous new recruits?? Why should they?? Those days are long gone and just a distant memory.

My husband works for local council for 15 yrs and is at the peak of his pay scale taking home £1,150 per month, we have a mortage, have a toddler, run a car and I work part time in the evening so we dont have child care as my family live far away. Some people think that cos he works in council we get low council tax we dont plus as he works in finance he cannot have any bad debt to his name.

So please be greatful for having a job accept there is always gonna be changes in the working environment that we may not be very happy with but are unable to change and have the delight in knowing that your strike is costing BA time money and customers result in all this ???? job cuts lower redundancy packages, less nights away on a long haul flight, the list goes on just ask any body who currently works at Aer Lingus

wildthing01

MrShed wrote: »

The answer is simple - if you dont like the terms, leave and get another job.

The strikers go on and on about how BAs current terms and pay are poor - but no-one will put their money where their mouth is and leave.

I honestly dont understand this completely antiquitated and deluded opinion that employees (and, without offending anyone, low rung employees at that) feel that they have the ability to have a say in how their employer is run - thats not how it works!!!

not so easy to just leave and get another job - we're in the middle of a recession. plus, when you sign your contract, you sign up for certain terms and conditions. i think it's entirely understandable that people would be annoyed about these being radically altered, without your consent.

plus, who said that the workers can't have a say in how their company is run. some of the most successful companies are the ones who listen to their staff, the ones who are actually delivering the service/product, and so may actually have quite some good ideas as to how to improve things.

the skill of any good management team is to devise plans that, while possibly not the most popular, will upset and offend the fewest no. of employees, and to then find ways to sell those plans to the workforce. (as said by moggylover above). they need to think creatively, and have good negotioation skills.

the problem with a lot of people (and i'm including both management and staff-side people in this) is that they don't bother to look at things from the other person's point of view, they are only interested in their own little world and what's in it for them, and don't understand that in doing this they are making life more difficult for themselves in the long run. they just doggedly stick to their guns, with no ability to concede even the smallest bit, and the end result is strikes, disruption, and other people (who are not involved in any way), suffering.

visitor

to all ba staff,
good luck,MPs pay up,management pay stable,bonus still being payed.
stick together dont get split,we didnt stick together cost us £7,000 a year (TAKE HOME PAY) still got same bills to pay+inflation+whatever darlling does in budget

Primrose

The strikers should remember the drastic decimation that occurred in the mining industry after Arthur Skargill's notorious mining strike years ago. Even if they feel they have a just grievance, the harsh commercial world moves on anyway, regardless or rights and wrongs, and industries which don't adapt to the competitive realities, simply get swept away. Having a famour brand name is worth nothing. Remember what happened to Woolworths.

mrsrobinson_3

I am on the fence with the strikes as I work for a close competitor and although we are not paid nearly as well as BA it was my choice to take on the job inspite of this. But without going off the thread too much I would just like to respond to those of you who have suggested that as cabin crew we are glorified waitresses and that the safety aspect is a load of rubbish.......:mad:

We are trained to a high standard and have to resit exams and training annually whoever you work for.

I and many of my colleagues over the years have dealt with numerous onboard emegencies including fires, evacuations, numerous heart attacks, strokes and even child birth, as well as dealing over the years with the constant threat of terrorism.

So lets just hope that you never require the assistance of a "glorified waitress" when you're 35,000 ft in the air, as if we are so incompetant then its clearly curtains for you. I can also guarentee that should you ever be involved in an onboard emengency you would look straight to the glorified waitresses for assistance......

Regards, a so called Glorified waitress

MrShed

wildthing01 wrote: »

not so easy to just leave and get another job - we're in the middle of a recession.

I agree - but isnt that the whole point?

You cant go elsewhere to get another job, so dont bite the hand that feeds.

Its VERY easy to get another job by the way - just depends where you are prepared to go.

Clearly, the employees of BA dont feel that they can get a BETTER job.

plus, when you sign your contract, you sign up for certain terms and conditions. i think it's entirely understandable that people would be annoyed about these being radically altered, without your consent.

I agree but that is the way of life I'm afraid. Equally, is an employer expected to maintain the same conditions for employees when there are radical changes going on left right and centre in the economy and in the market?

plus, who said that the workers can't have a say in how their company is run. some of the most successful companies are the ones who listen to their staff, the ones who are actually delivering the service/product, and so may actually have quite some good ideas as to how to improve things.

I never said they CANT. I said (admittedly not clear enough) that it is the EMPLOYERS choice whether they have a say. There is not some god given right to the employee that they have a say.

If an employee wants to work somewhere they have a say, and they dont in their current job, well....I'm sure you see where I'm going here.

Even if you take away the generic points I'm making above (as you can probably tell, I am staunch anti-strike), the problem in this specific case is that the union has been stubborn, militant, and has got their points across, well, not at all.

I remember watching an interview with the head of the union on GMTV. It really was laugh out loud stuff - full of militant rhetoric, but no substance.

Key, I did not watch that interview and have any real idea of what they considered the problem to be.

Hence, they have completely lost any public support they may have had.

I am personally currently sat in a company under formal notification of restructure, and I am expecting to see my formal letter of redundancy any day (at least, in so much that I have to re-apply for the new roles).

I am not sitting striking, because as you mention above, I can see the other side of the story. The company (like most) has been hit hard by the recession, and they need to make major changes - pure and simple.

If I lose my job, or lose some pay, or change terms (shift work for example is expected to come in), then will I be happy? No, not one bit. But you dont have to be happy to understand the reasoning.

A companies employees cannot be expected to hold the company to ransom to maintain the status quo, when everything around them is changing making the status quo economically unviable.