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[size=75:3c4bz6ak]novinite December 14, 2009

British Airways Cabin Crew Set to Strike over Christmas

British Airways cabin crew have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike in a dispute over job cuts and changes to staff contracts.

The strikes are set to begin on 22 December and run until 2 January. They are expected to cause significant disruption over the Christmas period.

Cabin crew voted by nine to one in favour of the strike action, the BBC reported.

The strike could cause problems for many UK and Bulgarian tourists who use the airline to fly between the two countries over the festive period.

It follows a long dispute between the unions and BA, which is intent on cutting costs to ensure its survival.

"
It goes without saying that we have taken this decision to disrupt passengers and customers over the Christmas period with a heavy heart,"
said Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary of the Unite union.

The British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association, a section of Unite, also said it was unhappy about taking strike action.

"
We are deeply saddened to have reached the point where we must take industrial action to get our voices heard, but feel that we have been left with no other choice,"
it said.



This could be bad news for some I was watching the news earlier and they said that those who have booked are unlikely to get any compensation if the flight is canceled because of the strike

Its a sad fact yes I agree British industry has been lost because of unions you look back at the likes of Red rob those of you who can remember will know he wasn't for the people his sole aim in my opinion was to destroy Rover which many years later he succeeded, I know he wasn't there at the time but he sowed the seed and left it to flourish which it did with the loss of a great British company

I think if this goes on to long its going to be the end of BA after all there's only so much the shareholders are going to put up with and the money they are losing [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

sarah

[size=75:3nzlc9v7]The Independent 26 March 2010

Fresh row as BA prepares for more strike action

A fresh row between British Airways and the union representing its cabin crew flared tonight as the airline prepared for another strike in a bitter row over jobs and cost-cutting.

The company said it would fly more than 75% of customers booked to travel during the four days of strike action which begin tomorrow, adding that it expected to handle more than 180,000 of the 240,000 people who had planned to travel from March 27-30.

BA said a further 18% have been re-booked to travel on other carriers, or changed the dates of their BA flights to avoid the strike period.

Meanwhile Unite claimed that the dispute may be costing the airline far more than the City, its shareholders and its investors realised, warning that the financial and reputation damage to BA was far in excess of what the company has acknowledged.

The union said the seven-day dispute would cost the airline around £100 million, twice the £7 million a day that BA told the City about earlier this week.

BA reiterated that it told the Stock Exchange on Monday that the "
current best estimate"
of the cost of the first round of strikes was £7 million a day, and that assessment of the cost of subsequent strikes would only be possible after they had taken place.

The airline said several thousand customers had brought forward their departures to today to avoid the impact of the strike.

BA said that, over the next four days, it would fly a full, normal schedule from Gatwick and London City Airports.

At Heathrow, BA said it would operate 70% of its long-haul programme (up from 60% in the first strike period from March 20-22) and 55% of its short-haul programme (up from 30%).

BA chief executive Willie Walsh said: "
The vast majority of BA staff, including thousands of cabin crew, are pulling together to serve our customers and keep our flag flying.

"
At the same time, I feel really sorry for those customers whose plans have been ruined by the Unite union's completely unjustified action. Despite the union's promises, this strike has affected the Easter holiday plans of thousands of hard-working people."


Mr Walsh stood firm on the airline's decision to withdraw travel perks from striking cabin crew, saying that staff knew they would lose their travel concessions if they joined the three-day walkout last weekend.

Unite has accused BA of "
unacceptable anti-union bullying"
by taking away the travel perks, but Mr Walsh denied this.

The union has insisted that any peace deal must now include giving back travel concessions to cabin crew, as well as reinstating a number of staff who have been suspended as a result of the dispute.

Mr Walsh rejected suggestions the withdrawal of concessions was a "
punishment"
or attempt to "
break the union"
, adding: "
We told them about the consequences if they went on strike."


Mr Walsh said he remained available for talks, adding that he had met TUC general secretary Brendan Barber earlier this week.

A Unite spokesman said: "
We remain in touch with the TUC regarding the possibility of talks but nothing is planned at present.

"
All BA strike-breaking statistics should not be regarded as credible after last weekend's smokescreen."


The union today called on the investment community to play its part in bringing about a negotiated settlement.

"
The union calls again for BA and its board to stop this self-inflicted trashing of its brand and work with Unite on a sensible, negotiated agreement which will be money in the bank for shareholders, and will keep a world-famous brand airborne,"
the union said in a briefing.

"
It would seem that the analysts' estimates of a daily loss of £15-20 million may be correct. If you add together the cost of lost bookings, of revenue effectively transferred to other airlines along with BA passengers, the cost of wet-leased aircraft (leasing fully crewed aircraft from other firms) and the cost of knock-on post-strike disruption, this is the ball-park area we are in.

"
Over three days of strikes we could then conservatively estimate the total cost at around £45 million. Over seven days of strikes, this dispute will therefore have cost British Airways over £100 million.

"
This is a staggering amount to be spent on an avoidable dispute. It begs the obvious question: why is BA spending so much?

"
Unite believes that the company has embarked on an ambitious and expensive attempt to destroy trade unionism among its cabin crew."


Mr Walsh has strongly denied that he was trying to "
smash"
the union, arguing that talks over savings have dragged on for over a year and stressing his willingness to meet with Unite.

Picket lines will again be mounted outside Heathrow and other airports this weekend.

The union has ruled out strikes over Easter but has warned of fresh action from April 14 if the deadlock is not broken.

BA said today that a member of its long haul cabin crew at Heathrow had been dismissed for gross misconduct after claims of bullying, intimidation and harassment of another member of staff.

"
It is entirely appropriate and reasonable for us to investigate serious allegations of bullying and harassment against our staff.

"
We will not tolerate intimidation of our staff and any reports of staff being threatened will be thoroughly investigated,"
said a spokesman.

Oh awwwwwwww will get Dougie out to BG but not sure if he will be coming home as due back on 27th

Although the BA Flights that we normally use from Sofia 0890 in and 0891 out did not fly on the first 3 day strike, it did fly this weekend, which was just as well as my wife flew home yesterday (sunday 28th) after visiting her parents.

:Howdy:Hi Everybody
Like me, I hope you are all navigating around this new laid out forum, and like me finding it very interesting and professional.
Congratulations and :Good luck:to all concerned in putting it all together

[size=150:14h0e58a]Now on to the bad news British Airways cabin crews to go on strike

It has been announced that the strike will last for 20 days over the Whitsun and half-term holiday period
Firstly, we had flight's grounded because of SNOW, then the first BA STRIKE and on to the VOLCANIC ASH, now another STRIKE
Can British Airway's survive ??? The cabin crews are some of the best paid in the Airline business and they are holding the Country (World) to ransom
I hope the passengers who are going to have their plans and holidays disrupted due to this totally unjustified action, boycott them in future and put them out of a job
How can cabin staff expect passengers to be civil to them when they have got total disregard for the people who pay their wages
Sack the b****y lot of them and as far as I am concerned, GOOD-BYE British Airways

I am a supporter of being able to withdraw your labour, but this is sooo short-sighted by the Union.

BA have been losing millions over the Volcanic Ash saga, would the cabin crew prefer not to have a job? Pretty much on strike for a month! Who could afford that in reality?

Crazy, absolutely.

in todays economic climate ba is committing employment suicide really, you can no longer hold a country to ransom for pay, having a regular job today is a real luxury. mad they are totally mad.

BA strike: Airline plans to operate half of Heathrow flights

British Airways says it will run full service from Gatwick and London City during next week’s strikeBritish Airways said today it planned to operate more than 60% of longhaul flights and more than 50% of shorthaul flights at Heathrow during the first cabin crew strike next week.The Unite union announced on Monday that members would strike for 20 days through May and June, including during the school half-term week, in a walk-out which could hit nearly 1.8m passengers.BA attempted to quell fears of widespread disruption by publishing contingency plans for the first strike period, which will enable it to run a full service at Gatwick and London City, and operate more than half of Heathrow flights.Cabin crew will stage four separate blocks of five-day walkouts on 18 May, 24 May, 30 May and 5 June, returning to work for 24 hours between each strike.BA said it would fly more than 60,000 passengers a day during the 18-22 May strike. It plans to lease up to eight aircraft, with pilots and cabin crew, from other UK and European airlines.”All flights at Gatwick will operate as normal as will flights to and from London City airport during the entire strike period,” the company said.”At Heathrow, British Airways intends to operate more than 60% of longhaul flights and more than 50% of shorthaul flights in the first strike period and it will add to this schedule where possible.”The company has made arrangements with more than 50 other carriers to allow customers to rebook if their BA service is cancelled.”Unite’s leaders have deliberately targeted the busy half-term holidays to cause as much disruption as possible for hard-working families looking to spend some well-earned time away,” said BA’s chief executive, Willie Walsh.”We are confident that many crew will ignore Unite’s pointless strike call and support the efforts of the airline to keep our customers flying.”We remain absolutely determined to resolve the dispute and our door remains open to Unite, day or night. It is not too late for Unite to call off this action and protect its members’ job security.”BA carried 130,000 passengers during the three-day strike in March and 226,000 during a subsequent four-day walkout. Today’s announcement shows the airline is planning to fly more of its customers during next week’s strike.BA said it was “still available” for talks with Unite, but had given details of the contingency plans to allow customers to make alternative travel arrangements.Announcing the industrial action on Monday, Unite’s joint general secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley said the union had been left with no choice but to take action.”There can be no industrial peace without meaningful negotiations and while management victimises trade unionists and uses disciplinary procedures in a witch hunt,” they said.”The seven days’ notice period is sufficient time for BA management to do the sensible thing and reopen meaningful negotiations.”Passengers are advised to visit the designated strike section of BA’s website to check if their flight is affected.

[size=85:2ipjrc3o]BBC news 17 May 2010

BA wins High Court ban on cabin crew strikes

British Airways has won a High Court injunction to stop the latest strikes by its cabin staff.

The decision was based on a technicality and whether the Unite union followed rules in contacting its members with strike result details.

The first of four five-day walkouts had been due to begin at midnight, but will not go ahead following Mr Justice McCombe's decision.

The union said it would appeal against the injunction decision.

BA said it was delighted that the "
extreme and unjustified"
strike could not go ahead.

But it apologised to some customers who are due to travel during the early days of the union's planned industrial action and will see flights affected.

It had already announced a rearranged Heathrow schedule to give customers as much notice as possible about changes to their travel plans necessitated by the strike call, it said.

"
Ash disruption permitting, we will aim to restore a full flying programme at Heathrow by the weekend. We will also offer a full programme at Gatwick and London City, as planned,"
it said.

BBC business editor Robert Peston said the decision created more uncertainty for passengers, and for employees.

"
Although the company may regard it as a victory, it doesn't appear to have solved what is a very serious industrial relations problem,"
he said.

Talks

BA boss Willie Walsh said the strike action had been "
unjustified"
and he hoped the injunction would now give those involved in the dispute time to pause and reflect on the issues.

He said it was "
time to move on and start rebuilding"
and that he hoped to see "
substantive progress in the days and weeks ahead"
.

Meanwhile, Unite joint leader Tony Woodley said "
irrespective of how many technicalities the company found"
it would not stop the union balloting its members again.

Unite union's Tony Woodley was furious at the High Court ruling

He added: "
Its implication is that it is now all but impossible to take legally protected strike action against any employer who wishes to seek an injunction on even the most trivial grounds.

"
Because of the far-reaching consequences of this injunction for all trade unions and indeed for our democracy, we are seeking leave to appeal immediately."


The company and union had been in talks at Acas during the day to try to find a way forward on disagreements over BA's cost-cutting plans.

Talks came to an end when the court injunction decision was known.

The first strike had been scheduled to begin on Tuesday, ending on 22 May, with the three further strikes planned to begin on 24 May, 30 May and 5 June.

BA had argued in court that Unite failed to follow the correct procedures in notifying its members of the result of the ballot.

The airline successfully won an injunction against the planned Christmas strikes in December last year.

'No regrets'

However a spokesman for the Unite union said the decision had been "
an affront to democracy in this country"
.

Unite's national officer Steve Turner said that "
decent citizens"
had voted in an open ballot which had then been ruled out by the judiciary.

He said the union would hope to be in the courts as early as possible, possibly on Tuesday.

In addition the union also said it had done everything possible to publicise the result of the ballot correctly, including posting it on the union website.

It said it had posted notices on crew locations at London airports, and used text messages and e-mails to get the strike ballot result across to members.

"
We have no regrets,"
said Mr Turner. "
We believe we complied specifically with the requirements of the law."


He added: "
This is a global workforce of 12,500 people and we used tried and tested methods."


'Balance of convenience'

In his ruling the judge said: "
I am unable to say it is sufficiently clear that the union took the steps required by law at the time they were required."


And he said that the "
balance of convenience"
in his view required the granting of an injunction.

BA and Unite are also still at odds over staff who have been disciplined or have lost travel perks because of their involvement in previous strikes.

Mr Walsh had ruled out intervening in disciplinary matters in order to call off the strike, saying that contingency plans were now in place, aimed at running the majority of flights during the strike dates.

oh well, the union has one an appeal against the injunction, they won't be happy until their own members don't have a job

raveydaveygravey wrote:

oh well, the union has one an appeal against the injunction, they won't be happy until their own members don't have a job

Completely right and this is why Great Britain is no longer great

[size=55:vgqcc6yy]BBC news 12 August 2010

BAA strike: Who could be affected?

Members of the Unite union who work at BAA's six airports in the UK have voted in favour of strike action in a dispute over pay.

The workers balloted included firefighters, security officers, engineers and support workers. BAA has confirmed that without these key workers it would have to close the airports - Heathrow, Stansted, Southampton, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

Unite said it would meet on Monday. The union would have to give a minimum of one week's notice for industrial action, meaning that strikes could start in the week beginning 23 August.

If strikes do go ahead, not only passengers but many businesses will be affected.

Passengers

Some 10.9 million passengers used BAA's six UK airports in July. On average, about 300,000 passengers a day pass through the airports' doors.

That figure may be even higher during August - the peak holiday season - and people with flights booked over the coming weeks will be particularly anxious.

Luke Pollard from the travel association, Abta, said it was important for holiday makers not to panic.

"
If you do have any concerns, make sure you're discussing them with your travel agent or your tour operator to make sure that you're getting all the up-to-date information and that your travel plans can be adapted if strike action does go ahead,"
he advised.

However, travel companies may talk you through possible options but until the exact dates are confirmed, real contingency plans cannot be put in place.

Airlines

On the face of it, 2010 has been a woeful year for UK airlines so far. Not only has the industry been trying to recover from the impact of the global financial crisis, but the disruption caused by the volcanic ash cloud over northern Europe further hit their profits.

Virgin estimated that the ash disruption, which closed UK airspace for six days, cost it £30m.
Man walks past empty check-in desks at Glasgow airport
Airlines do not want a shutdown of airports, especially after the volcanic ash disruption

British Airways, also affected by strike action by its cabin crew, put the cost of all disruptions between April and June at £250m.

But passenger demand has been starting to grow in recent months. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), it was up 11.9% in June compared with a year earlier - so the closure of six UK airports would come as a blow.

If strikes go ahead, Ryanair has said that it would be forced to cancel 300 flights per day at Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Stansted.

A strike over the busy August Bank Holiday weekend, from 28 to 30 August, would be particularly damaging.

And it would not just be UK-based carriers that would be hit - a total of 220 airlines around the world use BAA's six airports.

Airport businesses

"
Airports are some of the largest shopping centres in the country so any disruption has big implications,"
said Howard Ebison from No. 1 Traveller, which arranges airport transfers and pre-flight hospitality.

Shops and restaurants in the affected airports, as well as car hire and taxi services, will all be hoping the strikes do not go ahead.

If airports were closed over the August Bank Holiday it would be disastrous for airport businesses as well as airlines, Mr Ebison said, as many rely on it to hit their targets for the month.

"
This year [the bank holiday] is more important than ever as businesses will be hoping to recoup some of the revenue lost from the snow and ash-cloud disruption,"
he added.

Tourism

There are fears that any walk-outs by BAA staff could have a knock-on effect on tourism.

The BBC's Jamie McIvor in Glasgow said that strikes could have a "
disproportionate impact"
on Scotland, with its three busiest airports closed, and the Scottish tourism industry could lose visitors from overseas.

And while travel companies may put in place contingency plans, such as flying from alternative airports, it may not be enough to cover London.

"
If we're talking about Heathrow [being shut], there simply wouldn't be the capacity [at other airports],"
warned Tom Hall from the Lonely Planet.

However, for anyone planning to holiday within the UK, train companies could see a rise in bookings.

They wouldnt dare do this at peak time.

What on earth are the UK workers doing. Are they intent on pressing the self destruct button.

The world in general has gone through the biggest self made financial disaster. By these idiots going on strike for more money it just does not affect them but virtually everybody who is connected with air travel. The new government has declared that we must all pull our belts in. That has meant that my company pension was frozen this year hence no pay rise for me, many Civil Servants will loose their jobs (they used to have a job for life but not any more). So just what are these people after, I think it is just greed.