British Airways union Unite announces 20 more strike days

[Savoir-faire]

The sooner that national unions get together and force this ill conceived evil coalition out, the better! I have had enough of them!

[Wildcat]

I've never lost one - I've never even come close to sacking anyone unfairly - although the stupid Trades Onion took one to the wire and backed out on the morning it was due to be held. What a waste of time and effort for everyone. Let alone the lawyers fees. I jump through all the hoops when I need too get rid of a bad employee.

 

You said before:

 

My experience of industrial tribunals is that are rarely populated by people who have had to run a business. They lean towards favouring the employee. Another nightmare for people trying to do business and employ people.

 

So how can you comment on your experience of the way employment tribunals are populated if the only case you have been involved in was dropped before it got there? Telling fibs to make your point? surely not...

 

I think you misunderstand the reason someone owns and runs a business - it isn't to fail, it is to make money and succeed. A by-product of running a business successfully it employing people and paying taxes - a benefit to everyone involved.

 

Some people don't however run companies for that purpose, they asset strip them and line their pockets at the expense of the workers, customers and the company.

[Kingmaker2]

Unite is ready and has always been willing to be involved in talks.

 

http://www.unitetheunion.com/news__events/latest_news/unite_reaction_to_invitation_f.aspx

 

The problem is Willie Walsh preferring to impose changes and to adopt union breaking tactics as these employment relations experts have already explained:

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/25/ba-strike-letter-academics-walsh

 

Essentially though the British Airline Pilots Association are expressing concerns that a BA strike will threaten other jobs in other departments of BA, something which you claimed wasn't the case.

 

 

Striking Cabin crew aren't putting anyone at risk.

 

 

Whatever the cabin crews grievances with Walsh the cabin crew strike would be counter productive.

There is also talk that the volcanic ash cloud may rear it's ugly head again over UK airspace this weekend.

The Unite union seem intent on point scoring and I suspect they would be happy to see Willie Walsh cave in to their demands, even if it ultimately destroys the business.

[Wildcat]

Essentially though the British Airline Pilots Association are expressing concerns that a BA strike will threaten other jobs in other departments of BA, something which you claimed wasn't the case.

 

Whatever the Cabin crews grievances with Walsh the cabin crew strike would be counter productive.

There is also talk that the volcanic ash cloud may rear it's ugly head again over UK airspace this weekend.

The Unite union seem intent on point scoring and I suspect they would be happy to see Willie Walsh cave in to their demands, even if it ultimately destroys the business.

 

The British Airline Pilots are right, no one in their right mind would say a strike doesn't damage a business. They are also right to call for talks and for the Govt to get involved to force BA in to talks, talks that Unite have consistently been asking for and have always been ready to participate in constructively and with concessions.

 

The point is where does responsibility for this lie?

 

Is it with the Cabin Crew who are the ones that have been leading the strike since the beginning dragging the reluctant union bosses along after them? or is it with BA management?

 

From everything I have read about the dispute it is BA management that are responsible. The 95 employment relations experts agree, putting offers on the table and then removing them, victimising activists and anyone involved in the strikes so far is no way to conduct negotiations. The cost of conceding those points is next to nothing. They are there not to resolve the dispute but prolong it and try to break the union. Something so far they have failed to do with membership having gone up from earlier reports of 95% membership during the last set of strikes to the Times now reporting 97% membership.

[Kingmaker2]

The British Airline Pilots are right, no one in their right mind would say a strike doesn't damage a business. They are also right to call for talks and for the Govt to get involved to force BA in to talks, talks that Unite have consistently been asking for and have always been ready to participate in constructively and with concessions.

 

The point is where does responsibility for this lie?

 

Is it with the Cabin Crew who are the ones that have been leading the strike since the beginning dragging the reluctant union bosses along after them? or is it with BA management?

 

Grievances or not, I think that cabin crew, for whatever reason aren't fully aware of the impact of the strikes, and I've a feeling the Unite union is probably guilty of not spelling it out to them either.

 

Unite are prompting the cabin crew to strike because they think that eventually Walsh will cave into demands and reverse some of his decisions.

 

What they don't tell the cabin crew is the potential impact of the strike on the future of the company.

I've a feeling that if the majority of cabin crew were told the true impact of the strikes,and the likely affect it would have on their colleagues in other departments and ultimately the fate of the company then I think many more cabin crew would not be so willing to strike.

The video footage after the result of the Christmas strike ballot when cabin crew were rejoicing, seem to illustrate some degree of naivety amongst the cabin crew staff.

Far from rejoicing, there should have been great concern and some disappointment that they were about to strike.

[Wildcat]

Grievances or not, I think that cabin crew, for whatever reason aren't fully aware of the impact of the strikes, and I've a feeling the Unite union is probably guilty of not spelling it out to them either.

 

Unite are prompting the cabin crew to strike because they think that eventually Walsh will cave into demands and reverse some of his decisions.

 

What they don't tell the cabin crew is the potential impact of the strike on the future of the company.

I've a feeling that if the majority of cabin crew were told the true impact of the strikes,and the likely affect it would have on their colleagues in other departments and ultimately the fate of the company then I think many more cabin crew would not be so willing to strike.

The video footage after the result of the Christmas strike ballot when cabin crew were rejoicing, seem to illustrate some degree of naivety amongst the cabin crew staff.

Far from rejoicing, there should have been great concern and some disappointment that they were about to strike.

 

Do you really think Simpson and Woolley have been driving this strike?

 

 

The truth is they have been dragged in to this reluctantly by the Cabin crew who know precisely what the score is.

 

The timing of this dispute in the run up to an election where Labour have been trying to hold on to power is the last thing Simpson or Woolley would want. They have been drawn in to this by their experience of the way Willie Walsh has conducted the negotiations.

 

Unite is not a militant union, it backs the Labour party. It even conceded the Civil Service Compensation scheme despite the legal advice that the imposition of it was illegal, if it wasn't for PCS going it alone with a Judicial Review it would not have been determined to be illegal, meaning in all likelihood the detrimental changes will now be scrapped. Why did Unite drop this? because they didn't want to rock the boat for Labour, just like they don't want to with the BA dispute.

 

Their choice in the matter however has consistently been taken away from them by BA's conduct and the strenght of feeling amongst an informed membership that has had enough of being treated like doormats.

[Rupert_Baehr]

If British Airways was to go to the wall, then large numbers of Aircrew, Cabin Crew, Ground Crew and administrative staff would end up out of work.

 

How many Unite executives and staff would lose their jobs?

[Wildcat]

If British Airways was to go to the wall, then large numbers of Aircrew, Cabin Crew, Ground Crew and administrative staff would end up out of work.

 

How many Unite executives and staff would lose their jobs?

 

Irrelevant. They aren't leading the dispute.

[Kingmaker2]

Do you really think Simpson and Woolley have been driving this strike?

 

 

The truth is they have been dragged in to this reluctantly by the Cabin crew who know precisely what the score is.

 

Whether BA cabin crew or the Unite have driven the strike, it still doesn't alter the fact that the union leaders have simply told them what they want to hear.

 

It is highly debatable whether the cabin crew actually do know the score, their actions so far seems to indicate a complete naivety into knowing anything about the business side of BA, or for that matter a complete naivety about business full stop.

[Wildcat]

Whether BA cabin crew or the Unite have driven the strike, it still doesn't alter the fact that the union leaders have simply told them what they want to hear.

 

It is highly debatable whether the cabin crew actually do know the score, their actions so far seems to indicate a complete naivety into knowing anything about the business side of BA, or for that matter a complete naivety about business full stop.

 

They work there!

 

Why do you think you know better them?