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

Bargainetta

I worked for BA for quite a few years and still have family members there. They have never been known for good employee relations and that's going back to the nineties. I have always joined the union wherever I have worked because you never know when you might need them and I have been rather peeved with people who have not joined and then expect them to drop everything to help them when they need it over equal pay etc. I also really hate this thing where a lot of companies have sought to renegotiate contracts with current staff. Surely a contract is held between TWO sides and two sides need to agree without pressure. However in this case it appears that current staff are NOT having their contracts renegotiated, there is a second tier of employees being brought in which is, of course, different. It probably puts BA just the right side of the law and they will have had legal advice. Also there are lots of people who would give their right arm to work for an airline and it takes just six tax-deductible weeks to train cabin staff. Basically they are not in a very good position and need to take great care not to alienate other staff groups.

bootman

I know a crew member and pilot who work for BA. I have never come across such professions that pay so much for so little work. They both only work a few days a month for outrageous pay in return.

Crew friend only thinks of her trips as shopping ones all paid for!

deechap2

thanks grahamty. know where i stand now and realise that the union are very carefully trying to pull the wool over the customers eyes. a very priveledged workforce have been caught behind the bikesheds trying to ignore reality. not often i say this but good luck to the management

scififan

Does the Unite union want BA to go out of business? Everyone would lose their jobs then - well, everyone except the union bosses.

Wouldn't any redundancies that BA need to make to cut staff costs all be voluntary anyway? I thought I read that last week in the papers.

leathersofa

I am not going to comment specifically on either Unite or BA because I don't know enough about either. What I will say is that 4 years ago I had a lot to do with a long-running strike in education that specifically targeted disabled children (I have a son who was badly affected) and I learned over the course of the 14 months that industrial (in)action lasted that union bosses have one priority, ie themselves. They do not care about their members. They indulge in personal vendettas, internal politics and oneupmanship to impress or intimidate other union leaders and people in management. If they can appear macho, it will help them to climb over others in their bid for the top. THAT is why they act like Tony Woodley is doing. Of course this applies to management as well. But any worker/union member who thinks union leaders are in it for altruistic reasons needs to get real very fast indeed.

And possibly the worst shock I got was to see, a year or so later, that one of the most militant union leaders in this strike had moved jobs and was now working for the very local government body that he had denounced as the nearest thing to Satan a year earlier. Rising to the top of a union is a career, not a personal crusade, and anyone who thinks otherwise is, I'm afraid, sadly naive.

whiteroland

BA must stand firm cabin crew might like to consider how much they would earn at other airlines . a lot less

BA should also stand firm and not re instate all those perks cabin crew get worth thousands of pounds

youcanthelpbadluck

I would support the company in it's attempts to bring it's operations back to profit especially against their lazy cabin crew, my last longhaul flight BA wise, was spoilt by surly and non existent cabin crew, they dumped the meal as quickly as possible and then vanished (to bed?) no attention was paid to call bells, and visits to service stations were given short shrift if/when crew could be found. I vowed never to return to BA, Emirates are far superior, I wonder what their crew's package compares like.
In this current economic climate Our Airline, once the envy of the world, is fast becoming the pariah of the airways. It says it all when English people say they prefer Aeroflot to BA.
The crew are the face of the company, it stands or falls by their efforts, most people do have a choice, and like me, are voting with their wallets.
I fear our favourite airline has reached the end of the line.

Deb1942

youcanthelpbadluck wrote: »

I would support the company in it's attempts to bring it's operations back to profit especially against their lazy cabin crew, my last longhaul flight BA wise, was spoilt by surly and non existent cabin crew, they dumped the meal as quickly as possible and then vanished (to bed?) no attention was paid to call bells, and visits to service stations were given short shrift if/when crew could be found. I vowed never to return to BA, Emirates are far superior, I wonder what their crew's package compares like.
In this current economic climate Our Airline, once the envy of the world, is fast becoming the pariah of the airways. It says it all when English people say they prefer Aeroflot to BA.
The crew are the face of the company, it stands or falls by their efforts, most people do have a choice, and like me, are voting with their wallets.
I fear our favourite airline has reached the end of the line.

As a now retired British Airways staff member, it is sad to see how the Union who is primarily there to protect and advise its members as to the best and most sensible agreements that can be achieved in the present economic climate, do not appear to be taking into account the dior financial situation the BA now finds itself in. Due in part to the downturn in passengers travelling during a recession and the added competition BA now face from the Budget airlines. The vast majority of BA staff, with the exception of Cabin Crew, seem to have accepted that now is the time to bite the bullet, settle on the best terms offered by Management, with the hope that as BA hopefully return to profitability all staff will profit. Returning to the bad old days of the 70s with Unions calling staff out on strike over very minor grievances is not the answer. So come on Cabin Crew - lets get back to work, keep the Airline flying and stop the competition getting rich on the back of BA. There will always be a few staff who will destroy the good name of BA, but I am sure that there are more than enough who genuinely love their job and are proud of their Airline they fly with.

vernon

Captains and First Officers deserve every pound they get (and more) for their their skills and experience in piloting ever more complex aircraft. BA cabin crew? Skilled at piloting a trolley down the aisle. Good control in avoiding spillages. Deft at collecting headsets. Irritated when passenger Mr Oliver Twist asks for more. My local cafe gives better service. Go for it Mr Walsh. Cancel their subsidised travel perks. Begin recruiting new staff wanting to work. Above all defeat Mr Tony Woodley. A self- appointed Messiah and an alleged reincarnation of the infamous Derek Robinson (Red Robbo), destroyer of British Leyland in the '70's. Apologies, Woodley possibly more like Scargill.

dave2

Easiest way to avoid disputes is high employee participation (in shares/profits).

Friends work for John Lewis, they moan about it being hard with staff cuts etc but they get on with it because the famous JL bonuses align their own interests with those of the business i.e. profit.

Few people (in any company/industry) care about the company beyond their pay and conditions. They are ultimately there to make profits so this is a bad thing, on the other hand they are rarely rewarded for doing so either.