[Metmanmart]

It appears that most of the posts are by people who read the newspapers..especially the DAILY MAIL who have it in for the hard working Cabin Crew..How many of you have actually read the agrrements..All the C/C I know are NOT striking just for money..There is more involved. What Walsh wants to IMPOSE are what they are fighting for..Less days off..quicker turnarounds..new fleet employing labour at much lower rates..loss of seniority..Lots of other smaller things..Walsh wants to run BA on a Ryanair basis..Is that what you want..I certainly dont..Maybe there shouldn’t be a strike, but thats what everyone has the right to do..He also wants to break the Union..If this happens then all the people writing here who belong to a Union had better watch out..Once this starts then there is no end..Yes..Everyone should get round the table but it is NOT all the Union and C/C’s fault..
BA has a lot to answer for as well..As to the perks..Anyone who uses these knows what problems are involved..Staff Travel is based on Seat Availability..You have to wait aroundnot knowing if you can travel or not..We understand this and appreciate this but don’t think it all plain sailing…maybe others should try this and then see what it entails..I agree with oldbold entirely..I will continue to support the C/C but would be happier if they all got around the table AGAIN..

[ichtop1%]

I dont read the DM………i dont belong in a union………..i dont work for an airline……….i dont get ‘perks’ of free/discounted flights……i dont get perks full stop………..i’m just of the unfortunate people who rely on an airline to get me to where i want to go. Funnily enough i flew with Ryanair last weekend. We got away on time, we returned on time, it may have beeen a little short on leg room, it may have been cattle class, but it got there…….unlike a few friends, who didnt!

The point is that the general public, who are fed up with it all, will eventually stop booking with BA and the union will then be fighting on the grounds of redundancy, and then probably strike as a result……and so it goes.

It’s modern economics and business practice to cut costs. Striking is not the answer, when will the unions ever learn.

[markymark]

I have asked my flatmate to check how much it would cost him to go to Brussels and Berlin on standby: return tickets £81.90 and £79.00 respectively.

Well if it is what you call heavily discounted, think again, you can go for similar prices on low cost airlines.
Don’t forget that if the flight is full, they don’t get on board (therefore when downroute, you might have to pay for a hotel at the last minute since you will only find out whether you get on-board or not just when the flight is closing).

They have to pay airport tax like anyone else too

So as Brushes said $25 to go to Paris, that was 25 years ago, things have changed and airlines have realised that it is a good way to make money and fill in empty seats. REMEMBER, these are standby tickets, if the flight is full, you don’t get on, so the airline has nothing to lose!

Oh and they have to pay a non-refundable fee of £1.95 per sector per person for website maintenance.

The bottom line is that BA is punishing staff for participating in a legal strike, they are therefore acting illegally.

[RedFlyer]

Ichtop1% – We can’t help it if you are on the dole!!!

Removing a ‘perk’ for going on strike is quite simply blackmail. No two ways about it.

Anybody who hasn’t travelled standby cannot make a comment on the ‘value’ of the perk as you do not understand the despair of being stuck at an airport for day after day. Try that and see if your opinion remains the same.

[craigwatson]

RedFlyer. you say “removing a perk for going on strike is quite simply blackmail”, then you go on to say how hard done by you are for having to travel standby, and the inherant dangers that entails…. well I guess you wont mind losing them then.

[ichtop1%]

Redflyer….is it possible to have a discussion without being insulting! I’ve worked for the same company for 25 years, never been out of work since school, well paid, and well mannered!

It’s talk like that which causes the unions to have such a poor reputation, warrented or not.

If the perks arent perks, then there will be no problem losing them, so what is your argument there?

Oh, and i have spent time at an airport…..waiting……….for a BA aircraft to take me home………….it didnt……..guess why? Yep, strike action!

[RedFlyer]

Ichtop1% – Sorry if you took my attempt at humour as being insulting. I apologise.

Your work record sounds commendable. I believe there are probably thousands of BA crew who have just as impressive a work history.

My point about the travel perk is that it is not the fantastic benefit that every one seems to think. I still retain my point of view that WW is wrong to use it as a stick against striking.

To those in this forum who are harping on about taxing (As if Brown’s APD stealth tax wasn’t enough!!!) staff travel benefits. Why shouldn’t passengers who earn and redeem FF benefits be taxed as well, or that’s different I suppose?

[GoonerLondon]

“Bet you in around 3 years time, they will claim they have hit the £1billion profit (remember it was not that long ago that they had a profit of £800 million), and who will get all the benefits, greedy CEO, shareholders but nothing for lower workers.”

The point is a business of this size should be making £1bn profit. The fact is BA, like any other public company, is using shareholders money to invest in its business. And just like any person lending money to another, shareholders have every right to ask for a return and prospects of their money growing. If not – why not invest it somewhere else? There are plenty of other businesses with prospects that promise decent returns.

And who are these ‘greedy shareholders’? Oh thats right – its you and me that hope to have some basis of a secure future in our old age.

BA is not run for the sole benefit of its staff. They are an important stakeholder, but they are not the only ones. The most important feature of this is to make BA a successful and sustainable business moving forward, that can attract capital and reward its people well.

[Tim2soza]

ichtop1% – You are spot on.

[RedFlyer]

Hey Tim2sms

“I assume these perks are taxable at full NI and PAYE rates on the total of the discount?”

Happy to pay this on your next FFP redemption?

I believe that would be on a 100% discount though!!!

GoonerLondon – Very well said.

[PsyDtoBe]

I disagree with MarkyMark your post on 24/03/2010 17:39 GMT.

Come on.. I am not working for an airline but my parents own a company and there is a reason why the upper people got more perks. For once, managing a big company like BA is not easy! So does the journey to get there! Starting with your study in a university, and so on, the process is very long!

Why don’t you put yourself as a CEO and feel the stress and then put your self as a cabin crew, where your job is only make sure you done the checks and serving people with food! I have nothing against cabin crew but hey, you got a nice life and a relaxing job! You go on holidays and so on. If you think you deserve more pay, than show them how good you are! I love BA, but your services are still not as good as SQ or CX or even GA!

If you said you deserve more pay cos you can’t meet your family during your job, well, so does the CEO! When someone stress due to their job, they become distracted from their family and as I experienced their attitude towards the rest of the family will go negative as well! And believe me, my parents were so busy that they did not know I went to London for the first time from Asia, Alone when I was 17! And also, I have been spending my Christmases on my own so many time since I am young, to the point that now, Christmas is just another holiday.

You guys should really learn about why there are pay contrasts between levels (Higher and Lower)! And those unites people should be grateful to work as BA cabin crew especially BA pays you generously.

[Cedric_Statherby]

The problem with this thread is that it is getting too heated. In part that is because a surprisingly large number of people – cabin crew and passengers among them – really care about BA. THAT is why we have this debate about BA’s strike and not about the strike on the railways and the tubes – RMT are just as destructive as UNITE but put simply, we don’t care so much about the tubes.

Let me summarise:

The cabin crew care about BA – and are having an awful time of it

Passengers care about BA – and are having an awful time of it

Shareholders care about BA – and are having an awful time of it

Management care about BA (let us be generous here) – and are having an awful time of it

UNITE … doesn’t care about BA (or their members very much, despite the faux protestations on the TV), and isn’t getting hurt.

There is no hope of a sensible solution when the union causing the mayhem is the only participant who isn’t hurt by their actions

[JohnPhelanAustralia]

Markymark, you say
“This world is being run by a bunch of greedy pigs.”
Did I miss something? When did Unite start running the world??

[The_Flying_Nurse]

Good on Willie Walsh for removing staff travel perks for the striking crew, they were warned about this prior to the strike so I don’t see how they can complain about it now. BA long haul LHR crew have had it too good for too long. Their terms, conditions and allowances have been amongst the best in the airline industry. The striking crew are currently acting like spoiled children, most probably because they have unfortunately been overindulged by BA in the past with regard to pay, allowances and rest time. In comparison to other airlines their working environment and conditions are excellent, as are the allowances that they get for time away from base. I can see why crew would have issues, anxieties and anger over the fact that they will have to work harder because of reduced crew numbers on board and less rest time down route. I also understand that people have financial commitments and may find a cut in their pay and allowances hard to cope with. It does however infuriate me that the crew being affected by the proposed cost cutting measures don’t seem to realise or care about how precarious a financial position BA is in at the moment. We are currently in a worldwide recession and many people have either lost their jobs or have had to cope with new ways of working in order to hold on to the positions they do have. Why are BA crew so arrogant to think that they should be exempt from changes to their terms and conditions during such a bad economical climate? Life stinks, but you sometimes just have to get on with it. An alternative would be to leave the company but as an ex Virgin Atlantic crew member, I worked with a lot of crew who wanted to leave flying but had become very bitter because they were trapped in their jobs as they weren’t particularly skilled, educated enough or of an appropriate age to make the move. I think that could also be the case for many of the striking BA crew, so perhaps leaving their jobs isn’t a viable option. It certainly won’t be if or when their selfish strike action ruins the airline.

[RedFlyer]

The_Flying_Nurse – Being warned about removal of a benefit prior to strike action doesn’t necessarily justify it.

Whether you agree with the crew striking or not it is a legal right for unions to take strike action following due process and that should be without prejudice.

The alternative is that all strike action is illegal and workers don’t have any rights.

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