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Why is it a legal right to strike??

Bat21

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I don't understand.

The strikes that Unite are pushing through are crippling British Airways as well as ruining a lot of peoples lives so they suck on that level.

On a more fundamental level, how does it even work? Surely if you're not happy with your employer you talk about it. If you're still not happy, you leave. If you're really not happy because you've been treated unfairly, you take them to tribunal.

And who can point to any circumstances have really worked? I mean - where they have made the company a better place to work and be more competitive. In the case of BA, imagine if all that money that was lost during the strikes was available for better pay and benefits!

Perhaps someone can enlighten me... show me the perspective that I'm missing
 
I have exactly the same view, about the striking. BA staff apparently have the best pay, perks and pension and they want more? :shock: wtf? correct me if im wrong as im not following what's goin on
 
Bat21 said:
I don't understand.
Perhaps someone can enlighten me... show me the perspective that I'm missing
Striking works to ultimately protect the workers from some unscrupulous employers who use methods to enforce policies that are in their interests and not the workers.
I’m not accusing BA of being unscrupulous, but they are in the business of making a profit and it’s only fair that the people who make those profits for them should share them. Why should workers be forced to leave a job rather than try and make conditions better?
If you make job conditions unsatisfying in any way and make the employees leave, there will always be some who would accept lesser conditions of employment which in the long run is not good for any worker at all.
This is why trade unions were formed in the first place.
All that money that was lost during the strikes would probably have just gone to BA’s profit, not any increase in better pay, this is why the staff are striking.
I am not condoning the BA employees for striking, but if they wish to improve their conditions this may be their only way of doing it if negotiations have failed. Whether BA staff have the best pay and conditions is neither here nor there, they wish to improve their lot and why not? It is unfortunate that others suffer.

I can see me getting some stick for this :|
Chas
 
On the news tonight, BA are posting their year end figures tomorrow, and for the last two years their LOSS is close to £1 billon..... so not sure the argument about profit etc stands ground in today's times.... If the workers are not carefull they may not have jobs to go back to
 
TonyP said:
On the news tonight, BA are posting their year end figures tomorrow, and for the last two years their LOSS is close to £1 billon..... so not sure the argument about profit etc stands ground in today's times.... If the workers are not carefull they may not have jobs to go back to
that's why i don't understand why they are striking, it will only make things worse for the employees not better. only strike when your employer can afford it
 
Just be bloody grateful you have a [cushy] job! Whingers.

A friend of mine is a tube driver. I asked him about the strikes. He said it works like this: They ballot everyone, say 1000. 20 reply yes. 10 reply no. the rest don't bother. Majority of answers is yes. Strike over "poor tea making facilities".

It's all pretty pathetic :twisted: :twisted:
 
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Rob said:
TonyP said:
On the news tonight, BA are posting their year end figures tomorrow, and for the last two years their LOSS is close to £1 billon..... so not sure the argument about profit etc stands ground in today's times.... If the workers are not carefull they may not have jobs to go back to
that's why i don't understand why they are striking, it will only make things worse for the employees not better. only strike when your employer can afford it
I wouldn't expect BA to say anything different, somebody famous an American I think, once said "There are lies, damned lies and statistics".
 
Cossack said:
I wouldn't expect BA to say anything different, somebody famous an American I think, once said "There are lies, damned lies and statistics".

Well I am not a investment banker or work in the airline industry, so perhaps the BBC are making it all up :roll:
 
Crispin said:
Just be bloody grateful you have a [cushy] job! Whingers.
It's all pretty pathetic :twisted: :twisted:
To use that sort of example is pathetic, I sincerely believe there has never been a strike for that reason, it's the answer often used to put strikers in a bad light whatever their reason for striking.
Chas
 
so why are the BA staff on strike then? the news seems to missing this crucial bit of information. If its more pay and perks etc then its irresponsible IMO in the current climate
 
Chas was quite right in his summing up of the reason why unions were born, but there there is a significant difference in this day and age between being served by a union and being led by it. No one gets shoved up chimneys any more or has their teeth fall out due to phosphorous contamination in match making, or limbs ripped off in threshing machines. Is making a profit so that you can stay in business and provide jobs being unscrupulous?
A modern business can't be expected to run at break even - not the size of BA. Profit is not a dirty word. In one section of our company, Polish workers have all but replaced locals. They work three time as hard, find jobs to do when they are finished and complete every task exactly as required. Why do the managers find this remarkable - because the posts were previously filled with British nationals who wanted to be paid to turn up and then extra to actually do any work.

BA employees have to ask themselves, are they being well led by this union. To me, they don't look and sound like the excellent and professional staff that they claim to be representing.

Right enough politics b*****ks. I'm off to look at Landcruiser stuff. Which is what this forum is supposed to be about.

Chris
 
Chris said:
Right enough politics b*****ks. I'm off to look at Landcruiser stuff. Which is what this forum is supposed to be about.
Chris
I agree Chris, soapbox has now been put back under the stairs. :lol:
Chas
 
I also have zero sympathy for the BA mob and very little sympathy for striking in general. IMHO 99% of strikes are a complete piss-take to go and whinge in public and try and drum up public sympathy for something that is hardly an issue.

Re BA, I fly a LOT for work and I have flown with BA for more than half those flights and my opinion is that their staff are pretty good, definitely not the best around but better than most. I then read some of the "facts" about the strike and BA typically operates with more cabin staff than other airlines (less work per steward/ess, and should translate into better service for passengers - all good stuff) and those staff get paid significantly higher wages than the industry average, even when compared with peers (i.e. exclude the tight-wad budget airlines).
So the maths is pretty simple for me - more staff per plane on average and more cost per employee = much higher costs than the competitors :roll: Throw in the fact that the airline industry is fundamentally bankrupt across the board, so cost cutting is the only route that management can go down.
Soooo what exactly do BA employees think they're striking for - more pay and no reduction in cabin staffing :idea: Erm sorry guys, the economics don't work. Period. If they wish to flirt with unions and take their advice, good luck to them - the replacements brought in by the new owners of BA will hopefully do a better job and be a little more grateful to be employed.

My 2c :mrgreen:
[/turn on the soapbox]
 
Up until very recently i used to fly nearly every week of the year, and always tried to use BA when i could. I have spoken on many occasions to the staff about what is going on.
To be competitive in the current market especially with the latest budget airlines, costs had to be cut and services/quality had to be minimised to stay in business, it is after all about making pots of money, which is a good thing.
Those who fly had probably noticed quite a change in BA quality over the last couple of years and i know the staff did not like this one bit as they did consder themselves to be a premium service....and they were....but all the cutbacks and cost increases (fuel etc) meant this couldn't continue.....or does it?
With my increase in European travel another airline has come along...Lufthansa! I have never been a fan of anything German but to use them as an example they seem to maintain that old type customer service that BA lost, so what is going on? If they can do it then why not BA? Read on.........
I think that a huge factor in this is the staff themselves, yes they want to be part of a premium service, but if the company has to change to stay competative then so must they. Striking is essentially floored i think as they are going to break the back of the company they say they want to work for, with the de-regulation of assigned areas for airlines, a competitor is going to snap up the business they will lose.
 
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