BA cabin crew to strike at Easter

[handbagqueen]

I can't believe this is happening. Unite the cabin crew union are balloting for stike action over Easter. We have booked a holiday of a lifetime to Orlando and are flying BA over the Easter weekend it has cost a fortune and the kids are really looking forward to it I'm in despair as we won't be able to get alternative flights if the strike goes ahead and we won't find out for sure until 22nd Feb at the earliest (the date they'll count the votes), or even later if it ends up going to the high court again.

I always fly BA and must spend £5-10K a year on flights with them, but I will never ever book a BA flight again. If the cabin crew lose their jobs or worse the airline collapses they'll only have themselves to blame, I'm sure I'm not the only loyal customer who feels this way.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8465208.stm

Typical. I want to head home as I have not been in two years and they are probably strikng again.

Don't worry, I have just heard on the news that they have decided not to strike!

You know, I no longer trust them. I just won't fly with them.

I have two long hauls to the US this year. Vegas is booked, we went with Virgin. It is my sister's wedding, BA just aren't reliable enough right now. I have to book flights for the summer too to the US - again, just going with Virgin, BA aren't worth the risk.

OP, I started a thread on this subject just before christmas when the arses announced that strike. It became very clear that a lot of posters, like Hulababy, simply won't fly with them again.

DH's company is in the Middle East and used to use BA a lot for business travel (mostly business class too so not cheap). He went to book a business trip last week and was told by the company travel agent that there was a total ban on using BA now. They are losing thousands of pounds every week now from my husband's company alone.

Handbagqueen, hope you have a lovely holiday and you too Hulababy. We are due to go to Florida in Sept/October and normally fly BA business class. Virgin here we come

Dh works for BA, the strike won't be at Easter don't worry,He doesn't have a good word to say about the cabin crew, particularly as he and his colleagues are being asked to train as cabin crew as a contingency! v funny but it WILL keep all the aircraft operating and screw over the striking crew.

I quite like Virgin economy,but imo business class doesn't compare to BA. Big prob with VS is they have no back up aircraft if one goes tech,no replacement.

MABS hi, hope all ok with you

Does the training consist of saying 'chicken or beef' in two languages?
If you want a laugh, I've just bid for DS to abseil down the tower at school tomorrow at 1pm for Haiti appeal. Not sure how popular I'll be as I've just emailed to inform him. If you are around, worth a laugh xx
(sorry for hijack)

MOS - am going to watch it tomorrow! have you heard if he doing it!? let me know!

My dh will forget waht people order, no one on board will get fed

He is doing it! He was slightly shocked to get the email and that I'd bid on him without asking/telling him!
Just got the timetable and he is doing it at 14.15. Cheer him on for me (Matt) x

OP sorry for second hijac

I used to be cabin crew years ago for Bmi, even then BA were the best paid, best perks and working conditions. They are really well paid, for very little actual working hours per months and have good perks. They are paid loads more than all the others including Virgin etc.

Very true Tennisfan, defo for old contract staff, newbies are on less tan older oones no.

(MOS - i will indeed!!)

We never fly BA. DH is going to London next week, initially he tried to book with BA, because the times suited him. Their website was playing silly buggers so he booked with Swiss. Cheaper and we know they won't go on strike. Ever.

MABS tell your husband good luck and no the
training does involve a little more than saying "chicken or beef". Cabin crew are on board to get you out in an emergency and deal with serious medical incidents (eg heart attacks). Our initial training is 7 weeks. May I ask how long your husbands course will be?

"he doesn't have a good word to say about the cabin crew"

Please don't tar all crew with the same brush. Up until 2 years ago I had worked as cabin crew for 17 years for BA. I always prided myself on doing a good job. I was friendly, approachable and wanted passengers to get off the aircraft feeling as if they had had the best service ever. Yes, there are snotty, stuck up crew(in any big company there will be a small minority surely?) but IMO they are few and far between and most of us would run ourselves ragged on a flight to make sure passengers were looked after. I held my tongue after the last thread (at christmas-which I was shocked by) but couldn't after the above comment by MABS.

This strike is not about money. It's about working practices being changed without negotiation and crew being taken off the aircraft amongst other things. BA want to cut the number of crew onboard which means that the customer service will suffer. I know how busy it gets on a full 747 and believe me, I wouldn't want to be on one with even less crew. You would soon be complaining if you had to wait an hour for your G&T or longer for your "chicken or beef".

Most crew are proud to work for BA but it is being ruined by management and company directors who care nothing for passengers, only profit at any cost (to go into shareholders pockets). Yes, I know cuts have to be made in the current climate but how about getting rid of some of the hundreds of managers?

Crew do not want to strike, they just want to do their jobs and do them well (impossible with an unrealistic number of crew onboard). They have not chosen to strike over holidays, the union choose the dates and it is obviously chosen to make the company sit up and take notice.

There is plenty that is wrong with BA but shouldn't we be proud that we have a national carrier that is world-reknowned?

Thanks Campinggirl- nice to know there is a "little" support out there. Hope you're enjoying your time after flying- I've done 16 years so a bit of an old hand too.
I've only just read the posts on here having been off-site a while and was shocked but not surprised at the comments. I think, unfortunately, it's only human nature to think how things affect you when there's a strike and fail to see the "bigger picture".
I was gobsmacked at the length and timimng of the sxtrike that never was but still will support it fully this time around.
The level of public hatred- yes it has been that bad- has been dreadful but fuelled by gross inaccuracies in the press and BA people too.If you half the figures that were published you will be closer to the truth. These lies were also splashed all over BA.com by our people.
Crew were so vilified they were being asked to change into uniform at work if they commuted to avoid being attacked. One girl had a hot coffee thrown in her face at a petrol station and others were spat at on board- it was pretty awful.
Striking is the last thing I wanted, believe me. I am a working mum juggling a job and family like many of you on here. The days that I work I am up at half 3 so I can get back home to pick DDs up.I love my job but if we don't try and stop what's going on then I simply feel I won't have a job in a years time.
New Fleet- a new seperate fleet made up of new entrants on a very low wage has been a major BA want for years and is the main reason crew feel the need to act now. They will gradually be given our most lucrative routes, new aircraft and we will be left with little or no work then will probably be told sorry you are surplus to requirements.
Unless we transfer onto this fleet we will nbever have the chance of promotion again. Where's the motivation there?
The union offered BA savings over and above what they were asking for over a year ago including a PAY CUT equal to the one that was accedpted from the pilots. All offers were rejected because this wasn't about money. It was about getting rid of crew on the old pay scales and creating a no frills, low cost airline at whatever cost. It seems experience is not something that they want an ymore. What a shame- the staff at BA are the main reason people keep flying with us.
Unless we make a stand now there will be very little recognisable about this once great airline and I simply will not watch that happen.

Hi ess . I am happy to be at home with my son a bit more but I do miss BA!

Agree wholeheartedly with you. It makes me really to see what is happening. It was always drilled into us that it's the crew and our service that makes the difference. They have stripped everything extra that was given out on board and are trying to cut down the number of crew so where will it end? Will BA go down the Ryanair route? With crew that are paid peanuts that don't give a stuff about doing a good job?

Cabin crew are people too with families and don't want disruption for themselves OR anyone else. The comments that I read on the last thread were disgusting, along the lines of BA crew are a lot of lazy, overpaid bitches...

For some reason, a great deal of people in this country (media included) love to slag off BA. We'd be a lot worse off in it went bust. I love Virgin, I know some lovely crew who work for them and have flown on their flights, but I wouldn't put it past Branson to up the cost of flights if BA weren't around anymore.

I agree, a lot of healthy competition is good. Have you noticed the deathly silence on this thread now apart from you and me. No one feeling just a tiny bit remorseful about their comments?
The ballot papers are out again this week although I haven't received mine yet. Won't have to think too hard about what to put on it.

Yes, funny that isn't it....

I feel desperately sorry for the people that may have travel plans disrupted and I can only imagine how I would feel if it were me- but good luck with whatever happens this week.

I have been a BA supporter for decades both business and pleasure.However,having had the prospect of my Xmas runied (last threatened strike) and a very important trip with my DD) I will not choose to use them again.So sad as they always were a great airline.So they are cutting crew-hasn't every company cut numbers in the last three years? If you are lucky enough to retain your job,surely you have to step up to the mark? If no-go.......
Not saying the job is easy but compared to filleting fish in the North East-preferable?
I am NO fan of Willy Walsh but the cabin crew are ruining the business.The greatest revenue comes from business travel and if there is any "doubt"-business travellers (plus those who have saved all year for a holiday) WILL go elsewhere.
Cabin crew.........do you want a job which may be a little bit harder or no job at all?????

That's just what we've been saying though whooosh, the crew want it to stay a great airline. There are jobsworths sitting in offices making decisions about working practices and number of crew onboard that have no idea what actually goes on on an aircraft. They will make it impossible to do a good job. Crew will be spending all their time apologising for a crappy service and product.

They don't NEED to cut crew they WANT to-they want to get rid of all the experienced crew and will bring in low paid workders who are not interested in doing a good job or don't have any pride in their work-let's see if passengers want to fly with BA then. A lot of this is about profit NOT cutting costs. However, that is only ONE of the many issues.

I love you Campinggirl and ess. You've both said what I've being trying to say for months.

Wish I'd taken redundancy.

"Have you noticed the deathly silence on this thread now apart from you and me. No one feeling just a tiny bit remorseful about their comments?"

I think its probably just a case that it had dropped off peoples 'threads I'm on' not that they hadn't got the balls to come back and comment again.

Campinggirl "I held my tongue after the last thread (at christmas-which I was shocked by) but couldn't after the above comment by MABS"

I think many of the posters on the thread at Christmas which was started by me were pretty shocked by the fact that BA cabin crews proposed strike was for such a long duration over the Christmas period. A lot of peoples plans were potentially ruined by the proposed strike and of course there was a lot of bad feeling. For many people now holidays are a luxury and quite a few posters were very upset at the thought of losing their hard worked for holidays. Probably what didn't help either were several comments made by someone claiming to be BA cabin crew who came across as being very smug about it.

I have every sympathy with anyone who is at risk of losing their job or suffering cutbacks. As I said on the other thread, my DH's salary has effectively been cut by 25% in the last few years but he and his colleagues are not going on strike.

I do hope that you manage to find a satisfactory resolution to your problems though

I would just like to add that I am disgusted that cabin crew have had coffee thrown at them and have been spat at. That is appalling and unacceptable behaviour and I sincerely hope that the people responsible were charged with assault.

I supported the cabin crew on the previous thread, and don't recall any cabin crew being smug. On the contrary, there an assumption that the cabin crew regularly stay in posh hotels with champagne on tap.

Yes, the economy is tough, but when an employer repeatedly changes terms and conditions without consultation, then this can have a massive impact on people's lives.

As a former union official, I know how hard it is for people going on strike. Believe me, no one wants to strike. Aside from the financial hit, there's the breakdown of relations with managers long after the negotiations have been settled.

The argument of, 'don't like the conditions, go somewhere else' isn't really helpful as it's the employer who has changed the working practices. Most BA staff love their jobs and don't want to leave.

My understanding is that the negotiations were progressing and both the union and BA officials were close to an agreement before the strike was deemed illegal by the High Court. So, on that basis, balloting for strike appears to give the talks the impetus for an agreement

Hi mumoverseas, as I said before, the timing and duration of the strike would be decided by the union. I think a lot of cabin crew were shocked (as ess said) by the length and timing but the union would obviously have done this so that BA would take them seriously.

I don't remember the "smug" person on the Christmas thread but if someone was stirring things up, then obviously they're not very intelligent.

Crew have had allowances cut in the past and have had pay conditions changed and have accepted it but this potential strike is about other things.

ilovemydog, some hotels are nice, others not so nice (a lot of hotels too, are being downgraded and I have stayed in some really rough places miles from anywhere). Lots of jobs have perks though don't they? A nice hotel is no compensation though from being away from your family or missing your childs' birthday or christmas nativity(yes, I know, if you have chosen to do that kind of job then it comes with the territory and I agree). BA are massively inflexible when it comes to changing rosters-but that's a whole other subject!!

I would say that the vast majority of crew don't WANT to strike but feel they HAVE to, or in fact, THREATEN to strike. I have worked through strikes before(was in a non striking union at the time) and you can be in a hotel for days not knowing where you will end up-very difficult for crew with families and family commitments. Obviously, I'm aware that this would not compare to the distress of passengers who would have had once-in-a-liftime trips and important travel plans disrupted or cancelled.

I don't really want to post anymore as I don't want to get into a huge debate over this. I just really wanted to stick up for my ex-colleagues. The vast majority are not stuck-up, champagne swilling, party animals-they are normal, decent people who care about doing a good job and want BA to continue to be a great company, not a cheap nasty imitation of itself in years to come.

Oh, and hello Cobblers!