BA strike over Xmas - who's affected?

hullexile · 15-12-2009, 05:35 PM

Originally Posted by MovingIn07:

But I guess I'm not male.

Don't you know?

I am not going to defend the strikers (or potential strikers as I assume it could still be called off) because I think they are probably wrong but.. my neice (who is somewhere to the right of Maggie Thatcher) told me the new contracts are seriously poorer than the old ones not only in money terms but also stopover days etc hence the unhappiness. On the other hand the BA contracts were I understand considerably better than most airlines. Can't imagine she voted for the strike, though the chance to spend Christmas with her young kids might influence her decision.

shilo507 · 15-12-2009, 06:01 PM

BA is going down the tubes fast. This could tip them.

Didn't they make a GBP 400 million loss last year and are forecast to make a GBP 600 million loss this year with a pension blackhole of GBP 4billion?

BA management will doubtlessly attempt to get an emergency High Court injunction to prevent strike action. Whether they succeed or not is another story.

Does a bail-out next year by the UK Govt beckon? I don't think anybody would buy BA with that sort of pension liability.

Boris · 15-12-2009, 06:28 PM

Originally Posted by shilo507:

I don't think anybody would buy BA with that sort of pension liability.

The value of their slots around the world would make the pension deficit look like lunch money.

bookblogger · 15-12-2009, 06:51 PM

Originally Posted by Boris:

The value of their slots around the world would make the pension deficit look like lunch money.

That's no way to talk about those hot nympho stewardesses

shilo507 · 16-12-2009, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by bookblogger:

That's no way to talk about those hot nympho stewardesses

Hot, nympho stewardesses on BA? I don't think so...

Sigga · 18-12-2009, 10:08 AM

Just to say: Woo-hoo! I'm having a Christmas. To celebrate, I'll get extra-extra drunk and lie in the snow. It'll be like Russia!

Strike cancelled

Originally Posted by BBC:

A strike by British Airways cabin crew planned for Christmas has been declared illegal in a High Court ruling.

The judge agreed with BA that the cabin crew's union, Unite, had not correctly balloted its members on the strike.

The injunction means the 12-day strike, in protest over job losses and a pay freeze, cannot now go ahead.

hullexile · 18-12-2009, 10:10 AM

Originally Posted by Sigga:

Just to say: Woo-hoo! I'm having a Christmas. To celebrate, I'll get extra-extra drunk and lie in the snow. It'll be like Russia!

Strike cancelled

But note the baggage handlers are considering one!

Claire ex-ax · 18-12-2009, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by hullexile:

But note the baggage handlers are considering one!

So Sigga should have written: "I'll get extra-extra drunk and lie nekkid in the snow."

chimo · 18-12-2009, 10:33 AM

Average total pay for cabin crew (yearly, in GBP):
BA= 29,900
Easyjet= 20,200
BMI= 18,400
Monarch= 17,500
Thomas Cook= 17,400
Jet2.com= 16,300
Vigrin= 14,400

(taken from BBC website)

Sigga · 18-12-2009, 10:58 AM

Originally Posted by hullexile:

But note the baggage handlers are considering one!

Sez the Standard:

Baggage handlers and check-in staff at Heathrow and Aberdeen airports have cast further gloom over the plans of Christmas and New Year holidaymakers by threatening to go on strike in tandem with British Airways cabin crews.

[...]

The Heathrow baggage handlers' strike may affect passengers arriving in London on Emirates, Thai Airways, Air France and KLM.

I think I could probably survive without clothes if I had a bottle or two to keep me warm. But no amount of alcohol could shield me from the disapproving looks of giftless nieces!

There are also strikes on Eurostar. Is this the start of a new Christmas tradition?