83.2% Vote for Industrial Action

It appears another front is opening up against WW machinations…

http://www.24dash.com/news/central_government/2011-04-18-RPI-and-CPI-Fires-the-Grey-Revolution

Unions counter airline alliances

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/apr/21/unions-counter-airline-alliances/

Is increased exec pay for underperformance endemic within the oneworld group?

We hear of platitudes that bonuses will only be awarded for performance, yet coming last is still performing and warrants a bonus!

Can anyone enlighten us as to the circumstances whereby WW et al do not get a bonus?

AA have the same problem, now their cabin crew are doing something about it, I hope shareholders on both sides of the pond are taking note.

http://www.apfa.org/content/category/9/529/626

http://www.apfa.org/images/hotline/indictment_april_2011.pdf

Remarkable. This nugget doesn’t seem to appear anywhere else on the web. Presumably it is culled directly from the BASSA forum ? Rather suggests that some people on hear are not quite what they seem…

Given that BA have got a stack of volunteers, I would suggest that it is down to Unite to determine whether they wish to take the suicidal route of strike action. Let’s be clear. The union doesn’t have sufficient clout to stop BA from operating, so customers aren’t exactly going to run away. Oh sure, the union could refuse to settle, but that will mean that the membership will go another year with no pay deal, return of staff travel in full, etc. I note on another forum that there may be a ratjer interesting court case about to kick off, which could empty the pockets of one of the branches involved. If that were the case, I can see that it could wipe out the larger branch thereby bringing a rather abrupt halt to the whole proceedings. My impression is that BA have been businesslike and realistic throughout this dispute. The senior figures in Unite have also in the main followed the same course. At the branch level it is driven by emotion with no understanding of the wider business implications.

Final point. As far as I am aware, only Unite can call strike dates, so unless the author of the above piece is a senior figure within Unite (and the tone of it suggests that they are actually a BASSA person, not a Unite official) any statement about calling strike dates is not worth the paper that it is written on.

Alasdair – strikes can only take one form. It’s called walking out.

The SWP mentality that believes that inconvenience could occur at any stroke, is sadly misplaced. There are a number of legal hoops that need to be cleared before any industrial action can occur. True, Unite have a ballot that gives them a mandate for industrial action in this case, but they are required to give the employer (in this case British Airways) seven days notice of any intended industrial action. Moreover, the union is the only party that can call for industrial action. The two branches of Unite involved in this dispute cannot independantly call for action. Any industrial action that is not called for by the union is deemed unofficial and those participating may find themselves in breach of their employment contract and therefore liable to summary dismissal. Moreover, if the branches have called for action without the sanction of Unite, then Unite may find themselves liable to court action for losses sustained by the company as a consequence, hence the rather rapid repudiation letter issued last year when cabin crew were being incited not to close window blinds on aircraft.

It is very unwise to take industrial action without first ensuring that all the legal hurdles have been first cleared. Striking actually serves no useful purpose. Employers lose productivity, revenue, customer goodwill and the employee relations can take a long time to normalise afterwards. There is the risk that strike action can hit cash flow to the extent that the company is in severe financial trouble and could either go bust, be forced into administration, or subject to a hostile takeover. Workers lose pay. They also may lose jobs. If the strike has the effect of reducing revenue, then that may require additional cost savings to be made. In many cases this means downsizing the workforce. If the company goes bust it has even more disastrous effects in that the pension scheme may also get wound up.

You only have to look at the industries that were beset with huge labour issues during the 1960′,70’s and 80’s to see what effect strike action has. The UK once had a flourishing heavy engineering sector, covering shipbuilding, steel and coal mining. It had a sizable mass market automotive industry. Where are they now ?

I would rather frame it as the 15th May being the day on which Agreement will be reached, as no right-minded Union wants to fail to reach agreement and inflict more costs on its membership.

This does seem very close to resolution now.

If Unite fail to reach agreement, and decides it is able to justify strike action, it must give seven days notice from 15th May, so Sunday 22nd May seems to be the earliest day on which the few cabin crew who voted for action might walk off…

All flights from LGW, LCY and LHR longhaul will operate as normal, whether a strike is called or not.

It is a shame that politics always divides opinion so strongly. The Flight Crews (Cabin and Flight Deck) are what makes BA special and it is unfortunate that the actions of both BA management and the Unions have somewhat tarnished this – not taking sides on blame here. I think the issues here are complex and probably require a much fuller understanding to optimize solutions. It does appear though that some carriers and some unions have been better at Indutrial Relations Management than others. I remember the BA Gate Gourmet fiasco and the subsequent board changes and cannot help wondering if there are not some lessons to be learned on both sides going forward.

On May 12th there will be a meeting of BASSA members. Whatever proposal has been hammered out by Unite and BA by then will be voted upon as to whether it is good enough to put to another full ballot.

If the members at the meeting believe the proposal is worth putting to a full ballot then the current mandate for strike action will be allowed to lapse and a further ballot held.

If the members at the meeting do not believe the proposal is good enough to ballot on then Unite/BASSA will have 2 days to announce details of the strike plus 7 days notice.