British Airways - STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Quote:

A would-be suicide bomber worked for British Airways and volunteered to work during the cabin crew strike, a court heard today.

Bangladesh-born Rajib Karim, 30, faced three charges under counter terrorism legislation when he appeared in court today.

He is accused of two counts of planning suicide bombings and his own martyrdom. One charge involves the UK and the other alleges that he plotted with contacts in his home country, Pakistan and Yemen.

[pie-eater 207]

Yikes.

I see they haven't announced any dates yet... I wish they would get on with it!

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Hows this for your pie-eater?

 

Quote:

The union representing British Airways cabin crew has said its members will go on strike for three days from 20 March and for four days from 27 March.

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Seems BA have actually withdrawn their offer that was on the table.

Farcical.

Hope you don't get caught up pie-eater.

[pie-eater 207]

My flight back to Japan is on the day before the first strike.

Phew, that was close!

[big-will 7]

Good to hear!

[2pints-mate 0]

From what I gather the long haul flights like Tokyo will be ok anyway.

 

Actually for all the stick BA is getting, it really isn't them that's causing this nonsense. It's the cabin crew union, Unite. Apparently BA cabin crew are actually the highest paid cabin crew there is. (Perhaps thats why they eat so many celebratoy pies).

 

Reminds me of Athur Scargill and all the bollocks that was going on in the 80s with strikes.

 

BA probably would like to get rid of the lot and start over.

[pie-eater 207]

Bit of a relief anyway.

[NoFakie 45]

BA staff like their entitlements, but I would bet JAL have better conditions. That company makes BA look super lean and mean. If the LDP were still in power, I think they would just have been bailed out again. The company is a total leech. Most of their flights lose money.

 

The worst union in the UK by miles is the police. Maggie bumped up their pay to crazy levels to keep em loyal. Its all hidden in their pension scheme. Even regular plod can get twenty-five grand a year in their early fifties. Its almost all from the taxpayer, not their own contributions.

[Go Native 70]

Can anyone provide a link or something to exactly what the union is asking for? What are the deal breakers for the union to make them take strike action? It's a very popular thing these days to bash unions, regardless of how much good they have done for workers throughout the years, so I'd just like to see for myself the details of what is making them feel strike action is essential.

[pie-eater 207]

Here's the "Strictly confidential" thing that anyone can see on the Unions website.

 

http://www.unitetheunion.com/pdf/012-Bassa-TheWayForwardcombi.pdf

 

And:

 

Quote:

Unless a last-minute deal can be done, British Airways cabin crew will go on strike later this month.

 

Staff will walk out for three days from 20 March and four days from 27 March. The union has not ruled out further strikes after Easter from 14 April.

 

What is at the heart of the dispute?

 

In November, BA reduced the number of cabin crew on long haul flights from 15 to 14 and introduced a two-year pay freeze from 2010.

 

The Unite union said this would hit passenger service, as well as the earnings and career prospects of cabin crew.

 

The airline has also proposed new contracts for fresh recruits and newly-promoted staff. These include a single on-board management grade, no seniority, promotion on merit, and pay set at market rate plus 10%.

 

This would still see new recruits paid significantly less than current staff.

 

The plans for the changes were first presented to company workers in February 2009 and unanimously rejected at a mass meeting in July.

 

The union said those measures were brought in during November and argued it should have been able to negotiate over changes.

 

But BA disputes this and says it did consult Unite, but that the details were not negotiable.

 

The union applied for a High Court injunction to block the airline's plans but failed.

 

There was then a full court hearing examining the contractual issue - but a judge ruled in BA's favour.

 

Union members say they they have been "unwillingly" working the new schedule.

 

Unite has put forward its own proposals, which it says would save the airline £63m through a combination of pay cuts and part-time working.

 

But BA rejected the proposals, saying they would not save as much money as Unite claimed.

 

Why is BA making the changes?

 

BA says that it must restructure and permanently reduce its costs.

 

It suffered a loss before tax of £342m for the nine months to the end of December 2009, compared with profits of £70m for the same period a year earlier.

 

The airline's chief executive Willie Walsh said that this had been the "most difficult year in the history of the aviation industry".

 

"Operational changes at British Airways are absolutely necessary to improve the performance of the business," he said.

 

Globally, the company says it will have shed 4,900 jobs by March this year.

 

Willie Walsh agreed to work for nothing in July, in a show of solidarity with the 800 workers who BA say volunteered to do the same.

 

But are BA's woes purely recession-based?

 

Over the past few years, air travellers have been switching to low-cost airlines. This is especially true of business travellers who are traditionally BA's core customers.

 

The loss of these particular passengers is potentially fatal to the future of BA, according to analysts.

 

"If its most profitable business passengers don't come back in the numbers, and paying the prices they were paying before the economic slowdown, then BA's current operating structure and cost levels will in no way guarantee its survival for the future," says John Strickland from JLS Consulting.

 

British Airways is experimenting with cost-cutting and surplus charges, such as not serving food on some flights - those that last less than two-and-half hours after 10am - and charging passengers who want to place a second bag in the hold.

 

And other analysts do not think BA will end here.

 

"You have to wonder just how far BA's new pricing regime will go in the pursuit of generating revenue to stem the losses," says independent airline analyst Saj Ahmad.

 

What if there is a strike?

 

It will undoubtedly cause disruption to passengers (though Unite has said it will not strike over the busy Easter period).

 

The airline has said flights from London City Airport will not be affected, while all long-haul flights from Gatwick should be operational.

 

At Heathrow, its most important hub, the airline has said it will be able to offer some long and short-haul services, but has not yet announced detailed plans.

 

Domestic flights are normally the first to be cancelled in any disruption and airlines try to prioritise long-haul flights.

 

BA workers will suffer too. Workers taking part in the strikes will not only lose pay, but have been told they will lose perks, including no longer getting the right to buy heavily discounted tickets.

 

------------

 

Each side is predictably saying the other one is hell bent on destroying the company. Quite funny listening to the news here as it gets more and more nasty. Somebody has to be telling porkies or at least stretching truths rather considerably.

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Better watch out Mr Brown is on the case now.

Those unions dudes must be bricking it.

[thursday 1]

yes, must be. Speshly when they've been doing this to back Labour. Tossers, them all.

[pie-eater 207]

Who reckons it will be called off at the last minute? Bets on now.

[grungy-gonads 54]

They will still have lost a ton even if it is called off.

[pie-eater 207]

Back tomorrow.

2 weeks sure does go quickly.

[thursday 1]

Get on the plane now

[thursday 1]

Quote:

Hopes of a breakthrough in the dispute between British Airways and the Unite trade union were fading last night after talks were adjourned without agreement.

Unless a last-ditch agreement can be reached, BA faces its first national strike since 1997 which would inflict misery on tens of thousands of passengers in the run up to the Easter holidays.

Talks will continue today between the Unite trade union and the airline.

At the same time, BA is waiting to see how many of the 13,500 cabin crew will turn up to work and defy the strike call.

It hopes to carry more than 65 per cent of its passengers - 49,000 a day - during the strike.

This will be achieved through a combination of volunteers working through the strike, cabin crew from other airports not involved in the dispute and BA's decision to lease aircraft from other carriers.

In addition more than 50 carriers have agreed to take BA passengers displaced by dispute.

The talks were adjourned shortly after midnight and will resume later on Friday.

Unite is holding a mass meeting of cabin crew at Sandown Park racecourse in Surrey today to rally the workers ahead of the strike.

Even if a last minute deal is agreed, it will be too late to reinstate the flights already cancelled by BA.

The airline is believed to have already lost more than £25 million in cancelled tickets and contingency plans.

[BagOfCrisps 24]

STRIKE!

 

Looks like the trains might be on strike as well here soon.

[grungy-gonads 54]

Fools.

[thursday 1]

good lord. What a bunch of selfish people

[pie-eater 207]

Glad I was able to avoid it all! Just!

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Loads of spin.

 

United say 1 (or was it 9) people broke the strike.

BA say ovwer 1000.

 

Just slightly different!

[thursday 1]

Seems a lot of flights got off the ground. Unite may be getting a hammering for being Labour's crony

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Still a fair bit of chaos, according to a few people I know who were due to fly to places but either got their flight cancelled at the last minute and basically told to bugger off, or were thrown a sandwich in business class after a 90 minute delay.