Pilot37

BA cabin crew are to start voting on Industrial Action from this Thursday over a new performance scheme.

Details below from BBC Business Live website:

Around 8,800 British Airways cabin crew will be balloted on whether to take industrial action over a new performance scheme amid fears it could lead to job losses, the trade union Unite says. Unite described the introduction of the Dashboard scheme as a "human resources fantasy project".

The union says the system could create targets which are "impossible to achieve". Members of the British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association (Bassa), a section of Unite, will vote on taking industrial action short of a strike.

The ballot for the Eurofleet and Worldwide Fleet cabin crew, based at Heathrow Airport, will open on Thursday and close on 17 August.

An autumn of discontent ahead?

Pilot37

lorcancoyle

Uh oh

headingwest

Oh crumbs

rossmacd

If Señor Cruz is not already feeling the heat this summer, then its about to get a little bit warmer in WaterWorld.

Phil the Flyer

Here we go again.

If Unite/BA want to start inconveniencing their customers (i.e. the people who pay their wages) again, good luck to them.

It's another reason why BA isn't my first choice airline any longer - QR here we come.

Quarky Quark

Can someone share the rules for when the earliest strike dates could be based on those ballot dates please?

BApilotinsider

Read it again "industrial action short of a strike"

Fitch

So they will presumably work to rule...

leading to delays at check-in, grumpy staff and inconsistent service delivery.

Perhaps someone could write us a guide on how to tell the difference from a "normal" day ?

Tobias-UK

I don't know why there would be delays at check-in, the industrial action is being voted on by cabin crew, not ground crew.

As for grumpy staff, I think BA crew are professional enough not to allow their (understandable) differences with bosses to become grumpy to passengers.

NWIFlyer

Absolutely. I am consistently astonished at the high level of professionalism and customer care displayed by the cabin crew in spite of the way the company treats them - none more so than those from LGW, who have probably been treated worse than most by BA in recent years.

Grumpy is not an adjective, by and large, I'd ever think to apply to a collective of BA cabin crew.

That said, there must some impact if the action goes ahead - otherwise what would be the point? Logic suggests, as customer facing staff, anything that hurts the company would probably at least partially hurt the customer as well, so it'll be interesting how Unite sells this to keep the travelling public onside.

crazy8534

I entirely support the right of cabin crew to take lawful industrial action. It may inconvenience me but it also greatly inconveniences them, and is the mark of a civilised society that those who provide the value for BA's business (i.e. the staff) are able to stand up for their rights. If half of what is said about this new system is true then it will be fairly oppressive.

As to the difference between how we treat workers in the UK and how they treat them in Qatar: consider that there was 1 worker death during construction for the 2012 London Olympics. So far Qatar has 1,200 in preparations for the World Cup.

headingwest

+1 ^

Bitto Patwal

Around 8,800 British Airways cabin crew will be balloted on whether to take
industrial action over a new performance scheme amid fears it could lead to job losses, a trade union said.
http://airlinenews.in/british-airway...rmance-scheme/

London_traveller

I recall the last strikes, and more broadly, the discontent among staff on introduction of the changes (not specifically on strike days but at that time in general). Service onboard was not as good - I noticed a lack of engagement that I hadn't noticed, among some of the crew. Of course, not everyone is 100% perfect all the time. But there was a difference. The time I most noticed it was travelling in F. If you get a CC member who's working your seat for the flight and is working to rule, you truly appreciate the difference between that and normal F service experience.

The union knows that full strikes won't bring the airline to a halt. Lesson truly learnt on that one. But industrial action, even if 'short of a strike', is enough of an incentive for many to switch airlines, in case there is a strike or at least disruption during a work-to-rule period.

Not good at all. I really feel for the cabin crew though. What are they supposed to do - roll over and accept yet another 'enhancement' to their employment T&Cs?

Paralytic

Unfortunately, many read industrial action and assume strike; its happened in this thread already.

If this gets reported, I fear it will stop people from booking, especially if they don't read beyond what the obvious headlines will be.