Bad Attitude cabin crews go on strike

[cheddar-caveman]

Once again the BA (bad attitude) cabin crews are going on strike. What is the matter with these idiots? Every management team has the duty to do their best to save their company. In this recession, the BA management have had to take some tough decisions to try to keep the company viable and operating. Yes there will be one less flight attendant. Yes there may be some tighter restrictions on overtime etc, but it's for the good of the company.

Not many of these people were around when PanAm went under, agreed due primarily to bad financial decisions by their management, but it emphasises very strongly that no company is too big to collapse and that seems to be what these people, led by their union are intent on doing!

I have a personal stake in this by the way as I am supposed to fly to Canada with BA on the 28th!!!

[John]

They have grievances and as a final result they are going on Strike.

There is something touching on the Miner's Strike here.

Maybe your flight will not be affected - you should at least find out soon etc.

Otherwise - Good Luck BA Staff in your endeavours.

[cheddar-caveman]

Spoken like a true union man John?

Their only endeavor, with which you wish them good luck seems to be to bring BA down. Good luck? What'll all the cabin staff do then? Not many companies looking for cabin crews. Unite won't help them, they'll be too busy looking for their next target for destruction.

Never been in a union myself, thank god. Would hate to have had my life controlled, and probably ruined by other people. Always worked under contract. Each year you agree your terms and conditions with your employer and work to them. If you don't like them, don't sign the contract and find yourself another job. High time this system was used throughout industry. Much fairer and the companies get people working for them who want to work.

[John]

Unions and other Associations exist outside and alongside employment contracts.

Having an employment contract is a legal requirement.

I have experienced good and bad sides of Unions. It also depends on the Industry
or Profession you are in. It is not one size fits all. But overall they are needed.

BA Cabin Crews are on contracts, it is the changes to these that this dispute is all about.

One major reason for being in a Union, is when the Employer wants to change or not
honour that contract. Litigation would be far too expensive for the individual.

[Papaumau]

Once again the BA (bad attitude) cabin crews are going on strike. What is the matter with these idiots? Every management team has the duty to do their best to save their company. In this recession, the BA management have had to take some tough decisions to try to keep the company viable and operating. Yes there will be one less flight attendant. Yes there may be some tighter restrictions on overtime etc, but it's for the good of the company.

Not many of these people were around when PanAm went under, agreed due primarily to bad financial decisions by their management, but it emphasises very strongly that no company is too big to collapse and that seems to be what these people, led by their union are intent on doing!

I have a personal stake in this by the way as I am supposed to fly to Canada with BA on the 28th!!!

Sadly, Cheddar Caveman, you seem to be taking the side of the company against the side of the workers here as you  see the workers to blame for services being lost and maybe your booking being effected.

Seldom are industrial relations as simple as that and before brickbats are chucked about I think that the ones doing the chucking should know all of the facts.

Please refer to my posting to the "BA the truth" thread here: http://www.pensionersforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,681.0.html

[cheddar-caveman]

No, I'm just saying that there is rarely justification to shutdown a company because of a disagreement. I cannot believe that any company management team would deliberately go out of their way to force the workforce to walkout. They work for the company as well so if it goes down, they go with it.

I am sure that a lot of the staff feel threatened by their colleagues and go along with them just to save face. Having watched several clips from the union meetings it is no wonder they all fall into line! Pure Hitler style rhetoric from Unite henchmen, cajoling the members to act.

I repeat a comment that I made in a previous post that I believe everybody should have a ANNUAL contract, not a rolling one like the wish-washy things most companies have. Each year you, as an individual, agree or not as the case may be, to the terms offered. If you agree you sign on, if you don't you look for another job.

[John]

Annual Contracts - Just how stable do you want this near unstable society to be?

As for getting another job, have you any idea how difficult it is to actually get one?

How many people are chasing one decent job?

Your posting is underpinned by in-factual nonsense.

[cheddar-caveman]

"As for getting another job, have you any idea how difficult it is to actually get one?"

There are thousands of jobs out there if people really want to work. The problem is that the benefit system is so generous that they have to get a "good" job just to beat the cash the system gives them. No incentive.

If they made a person take a job that they could do, and topped up their pay to the same as if they were on full benefits, think of the amount of saving that could be made. The unemployment would also be drastically reduced.

My introduction to the workplace was scrubbing decks in the RN as a junior seaman!

Now there's a thought, bring back national service! That would clear the dole queues.

[Hells Granny]

There are thousands of jobs out there if people really want to work. The problem is that the benefit system is so generous that they have to get a "good" job just to beat the cash the system gives them. No incentive.
If they made a person take a job that they could do, and topped up their pay to the same as if they were on full benefits, think of the amount of saving that could be made. The unemployment would also be drastically reduced.
My introduction to the workplace was scrubbing decks in the RN as a junior seaman!
Now there's a thought, bring back national service! That would clear the dole queues.

I'm not against National Service, a scheme for a Community National Service was mooted a couple of years ago, but went with a whimper into obscurity. Folk don't have the patriotic attitude that we had when we were young.

As for your statement that there are thousands of jobs out there, I'd love to see them in my area! My son has been looking for nearly two years since leaving college, without even a sniff at an interview. Even the supermarkets aren't recruiting in my neck of the woods, and one of our biggest employers has just shut it's production plant in favour of overseas production.

If there is a half page of recruitmant ads in our local rag we are lucky, but they all need folk with driving licences or degrees! My lad is on crutches since an accident in December, he is due an MRI sometime in April (not holding my breath!), and he has dyslexia, so his chances aren't good at all.

He'd love to get a blacksmithing apprenticeship, but they are as rare as rocking horse manure here as well!

Cheers, HG

[Hugh]

Got to disagree with you CC my son as applied for dozens of jobs with out even getting a replie. He gets no unemployment benefits because he as been saving for retirement and as some money in the bank. there are now over two million on the dole add to this thousands like my son and what the real unemployment I would hate to think.
BA strike not going to get into an argument over the rights and wrongs of this strike but I will give you a set of prices to show you what the problems is about.

I check flights to Durban South Africa this May BA from Heathrow £1300 return Air Emirates £569 return. Both airlines have excellent reputation for comfort and customer satisfaction. Travel time the same. Emerates as the highest baggage allowance weight of 30kg per person.  Need I say more?

[cheddar-caveman]

Totally agree with you Hugh on BA prices. Unfortunately we had no choice. There are only two carriers to Vancouver, Air Canada and BA. Canada were full and BA only had a couple of seats left.

We also looked at them when we went to Thailand last year but at more than DOUBLE Qatar Airways fare we didn't use them. Qatar by the way, were brilliant.

Sorry youi don't have any jobs around there. The local job centres here seem to have a good supply but very few of the applicants are prepared to work for minimum wage or pick fruit/veg and the likes.

Weston pier are recruiting 250 jobs for when they get up and running this summer. The Cheddar Caves have just taken on 30+ and shortly most of the soft fruit growers and orchards will want people. This of course is where the Poles come into the equation as the locals won't do it.

I guess I've been lucky? or just prepared to go ANYWHERE to work, so have spent most of my working life overseas, in some horrible places I might add, hence the "contracts".

[Papaumau]

No, I'm just saying that there is rarely justification to shutdown a company because of a disagreement. I cannot believe that any company management team would deliberately go out of their way to force the workforce to walkout. They work for the company as well so if it goes down, they go with it.

I am sure that a lot of the staff feel threatened by their colleagues and go along with them just to save face. Having watched several clips from the union meetings it is no wonder they all fall into line! Pure Hitler style rhetoric from Unite henchmen, cajoling the members to act.

I repeat a comment that I made in a previous post that I believe everybody should have a ANNUAL contract, not a rolling one like the wish-washy things most companies have. Each year you, as an individual, agree or not as the case may be, to the terms offered. If you agree you sign on, if you don't you look for another job.

WOW...Cheddar Caveman, you really are down hard on the workers at BA aren't you ?

Thatcher introduced the complete industrial vote for strike action and now BA are whining because this vote has been 90 percent plus BOTH TIMES it was taken in the Unite union.

NOBODY is forced to vote in any particular way in such ballots and when a ballot such as that achieves such a high return there HAS TO BE something wrong with the industrial relations attached.

Do you think for a minute that all of the people who voted for that strike want BA to fail with the result that all of them would lose their jobs. Get real man, as that will never be the case.

Thatcher made sure that the days of the militant and destructive unions is past and gone. Now they are only able to fight against a bullying and dictatorial and confronting CEO like Willie Walsh.

[Hugh]

BA have got to bring fare prices down to compete with other air lines, and I cannot see this strike doing themselves or the air line any good at all. I also wonder why its always Heathrow that as problems with the management  

[cheddar-caveman]

Totally agree Hugh. And how does an airline reduce its fares? By cutting costs and by being more labour efficient and that is what BA are trying to do! Unfortunately the cabin crew don't seem to want to help!

Why Heathrow? Ever been to terminal 5? It is HUGE and there must be thousands of staff there, an awful lot doing nothing from what we saw last year when we went there to meet someone. No wonder BA have problems. They seem to be greatly overstaffed, at T5 anyway.

[Hugh]

Never flown from Heathrow. Got my flights to Durban from Birmingham which makes hell of a saving on car parking. Heathrow beginning to get one hell of a bad reputation for problems, and its costing them millions and when customers find out how good air lines such as Emirates are, they are going to lose even more.