Do turkeys vote for Christmas?
Clearly not but they probably have a superior sense of reality than British Airways cabin crew and the UNITE trade union.
I have spent some time trying to understand the industrial dispute that is threatening to ruin Christmas for thousands of BA's customers and, perhaps more importantly, wreck the airlines finances for the foreseeable future.
I may be missing a great deal but as far as I can see the strike is essentially about (1) a small reduction in cabin crew on long haul services (2) less generous employment terms & conditions for new employees (3) a 2 year pay freeze.
BA management says that its cabin crew have just a remuneration package twice as generous as that offered by their leading competitor (Virgin Atlantic?) – I haven't seen where the trade union has challenged this.
So, if I have this right, staff on a highly competitive remuneration package, working for a company that lost about £700 million in the last 18 months are threatening to go on strike at the busiest time of year because the company is trying to pull itself out of the mire.
To do this, BA wants to make some minor cuts and to employ its new staff on different terms.
I can't say that this sounds unreasonable.
What does the union think BA has to do when faced with huge losses and a world wide recession – perhaps put up wages & keep the cost base unchanged?
I can't help but feel that UNITE & its members haven't really got to grips with the reality of working in the private sector & perhaps think that BA is still state controlled?
UNITE and the cabin crew seem to have embarked on a very dangerous game of brinkmanship and as a result I fear for the future of BA – if management “backs down” then will it be possible to find other ways of creating the required savings?
If the strike goes ahead then a huge amount of revenue, customer goodwill and future business is lost.
BA is taking legal action against the union claiming there were irregularities in the strike ballot – if this is the case and an injunction is granted then the strike will not proceed.
At present it looks as if this is the best chance for BA customers to get their flights over the festive period and the best opportunity for the union and management to pull back from the brink of a disaster.
