BA cabin crew to strike over Xmas ~ LB-69

For the last few years I have been one of these people who has visited this forum and enjoyed reading holiday reports / articles on every thing about ladyboys.
I think as a forum goes, it is definite...

Hopefully this doesn't happen, but thought it could impact on a few board members ?

Cheers
Koykaeng

BA cabin crew to strike over Xmas

British Airways cabin crew are poised to walk off the job for 12 days over the busy Christmas period in a dispute over job cuts.

More than 92 per cent of the 12,500 crew who took part in a ballot organised by Britain's biggest trade union Unite voted on Monday in favour of the strike, which will run from December 22 to January 2.

The action could leave hundreds of thousands of passengers around the world stranded unless the airline can come to some sort of agreement to resolve the dispute with union members.
"We will advise British Airways that the strike will begin with a 12-day strike starting from the 22nd of December," Unite's assistant general secretary Len McCluskey told reporters.

"We are hoping that the size of this vote will make the company think again - 92.5 per cent of their staff have said what is happening to them at the moment is wrong and they have called for the company to sit down and start treating them with more dignity and respect.
"We have taken this decision to disrupt passengers and customers over the Christmas period with a heavy heart."

McCluskey said the union hoped BA would return to the negotiating table to try and come up with a resolution to the dispute in the hope the strike could be avoided.
The airline's cabin crew are concerned about job losses and changes to their work practices, which British Airways insists are essential to its survival.

British Airways, which is merging with Spanish carrier Iberia, recorded a pre-tax loss of STG292 million ($A520.78 million) for the six months to the end of September.
BA said it had begun rejigging its Christmas flight schedules and contacting customers in response to news of the strike, which reportedly could affect one million passengers around the world.

"We are currently reworking our flight schedules for the strike period and aim to announce them as quickly as possible," the airline said in a statement on its website.
"Our intention is to inform affected customers directly if we have their email address or by SMS text if we have their mobile phone number."

McCluskey said the union understood BA passengers would be frustrated by the strike during what is the airline industry's busiest time of the year.
However, he said he hoped passengers would understand the anger of cabin crew at BA's decision to impose cost-cutting changes rather than introduce them after reaching agreement with the union.

"Our message to them (the passengers) is we would like them to be angry with the company," he said.
"It's somewhat of an irony that the very people who are responsible for the brand name of British Airways and have made British Airways the best airline in the world, the most respected airline in the world, are cabin crew who are now engaged in a dispute that will affect the very people that they service.

"So what people have to understand and it's extremely difficult, ... is we are not dealing with a group of militants.
"We are talking about dedicated men and women who perform a first-class job and are very proud of their company.

"They don't want to bring British Airways down but they have been forced into a corner by the company."
In a bid to cope with a downturn in passenger numbers during the global recession, BA recently announced a wide-ranging savings plan including 1,700 job cuts, a pay freeze for existing employees and lower wages for new staff.

McCluskey said the cost of a 12-day strike would be "enormous" for BA and to force staff into striking "doesn't make sense" for the struggling carrier.

"We are hoping, of course, all the time that a phone call will come and we will be able to resolve the issue," he said.

FB UK did warn us................... Cool

What's the knock-on effect of this? Obviously BA customers are gonna have a shit time at Christmas but will it affect other carriers? I fucking hope not.

This could well be the end of BA.

Heathrow is going to be a fricking nightmare....

Ladyboy Guru Joined: 06 Oct 2008 Posts: 2610 Points: 55

fuck em, it is about time the proletariat made a stance against the bourgeoisie.
i realise that there will be short term disruption, but it will be for the good of the long term.
it's ok for the director of ba to say the strike is wrong, the same guy who is probably on well over 250,000 a year.
good to see the unions making a come back, sticking up for the rights of the working man, since the dark dark days of thatcherism.
hopefully this could be a warning to large companies, that their workforce is now willing to stick together for decent pay, working conditions ect, and they can no longer do as they please.
Sorry for the rant guys, i genuinely hope this does not disrupt any bm's plans, but my political views are my political views.

Ladyboy Guru Joined: 06 Oct 2008 Posts: 2610 Points: 55

i wander how much money could be redisrtrubuted throughout major companies if the fat cat directors decided to take a wage cut, and froze their bonuses, never happen always take it out on joe bloggs

Likely the guys booked on other airlines will be packed in tight as ALL the available seats get taken.
No bargains to be had anymore, all the other carriers will be making the most of it Neutral

Although I never fly with them, it could be the end of BA Loco

I just hope Frankfurt airport will be spared from BA strike consequences... Angel

But who knows... Loco

BR

Ladyboy Guru Joined: 06 Oct 2008 Posts: 2610 Points: 55

compared to air france, emirates, ba are way too expensive.
have been with ba twice going to bkk, nothing different from the other airlines, just way over priced.

To all of you that this may affect........

We DO NOT want to have to do this

And hopefully, within the next few days, we'll find out that we don't have to, and I can return to work and take everyone to far flung places for Xmas.

We have been forced into this position by a mangement hell bent on chopping, cutting, and getting rid of everything BA stands for, is, or would one day, like to be.

If anyone is affected, feel free to PM me so I can perhaps pass on any information I have available to me.

Don't believe all what the newspapers say. I am not on £35,000 a year. There are a number of reasons why we are doing this. It's not just about pay, or losing one crew member on a long haul flight (What the media are leaving out is that on shorthaul, up to 4 crew members have been taken off, leaving just 3 crew to try and look after 132 people in a 28 minute flight to Manchester)

Above all else, we are doing this so that 12 months down the line, we still have a job, because if it's up to our CEO, we wont have.

And if that affects someones holiday, I'm sorry, but on this occasion, I, or indeed WE have to think about ourselves for once, and not the passengers we build our career looking after.

Ladyboy Guru Joined: 06 Oct 2008 Posts: 2610 Points: 55

you do not have to explain yourself to me fatboy, you have my backing all they way.
whats his name willy walsh i think, tinkered with air lingus and fucked it up, now it appears he is going the same way with ba.
glad you have stuck up to him.
and for any public that points the finger at the cabin crew need not, they should start pointing the finger at the management.
what i believe is that the pilots have given back 2 .5 percnet and will get this back in two years through bonuses ect.
however the cabin crew wanted this, but did not want their money back, only to be reinststed to what they were previously on.
mr willy said , no, what else was there left to do but strike.
fatboy, or any one else please correct me, if this is not accurate, but what i have heard it is pretty much on the mark.

I really don't have a problem with it either. But the dates picked are very bad. I would guess that was done to maximize the effect. But it makes the strikers look like the Grinch that stole Christmas.