capin

Can't see it happening. A lot of these people have just had their roles outsourced to India and no longer work for BA.

Lite

I really am getting fed up with Alex Cruz saying that this is an attempt to ruin Christmas for thousands of our customers, it really is not. Thank you to the many of you that have expressed your support since my last post yesterday, I am very humbled with your support and kind words, as are my family.

makin'miles

I think BA will have an easier time running a full (or nearly full) service on Christmas Day, as its a much lighter flying day - pre-strike they were not planning to run nearly a full service. BOS usually gets four flights a day - it'll be one on Christmas. JFK gets four on the 25th, down from seven or eight.

I wonder if MF will plan the next strike for December 31-Jan 2 or so... they could announce on Christmas Eve, putting pressure on management to work over the Christmas weekend to cover everything off... will be interesting to see how they move forward.

strichener

I hope you have the opportunity to enjoy the festive period with your family and that this action does not cause you any extra stress at this already stressful time.

Good luck and I hope you succeed in achieving a fairer deal and at least substantially closer to the expected salary.

Can I help you

Don't forget that BA had already planned for the reduced schedule and many of us are on leave. Lite pleased be prepared for it to get a lot more nasty, I'm in no don't that they intend to crush MF strikers.

Agent69

You would need to be fairly naive to believe that going on strike on Christmas day and Boxing day wasn't going to ruin some people's Christmas.

I note a clear statement from BA earlier today stating that no full time MF crew get less than £21k / year. Puts into perspective Unites continual regurgitation of the £12k starting salary figure.

Calchas

Going to work on Christmas day would ruin my Christmas ...

layz

But some crew on here have said they're unlikely to hit £21k (even that is too low for London) - I trust the posters on here more than BA's PR.

UKtravelbear

Any management can put out a figure like that. I bet it's based on someone not taking any time off sick and doing the worst rotations to earn the most pay.

Anyone can come up with a figures that say X can earn Y.

How many MF staff are full time and so eligible to earn those heady amounts??

Lite

This isn't about potentially ruining people's Christmases it is about the statements that the company and its CEO have made claiming that union members are doing this to ruin people's Christmases. We are not. Our union have had ongoing pay talks since the start of the financial year and by Christmas they still haven't organised a pay rise on top of the already low pay on Mixed Fleet. For me personally, when this ballot came out there was no doubt in my mind that it should be a Yes vote to industrial action. Not because I want to ruin anyone's Christmas as Señor Cruz would have you believe.

Unite did tell British Airways to not make misleading statements while talks Acas were ongoing today. Despite the agreement at the beginning of the talks, the airline issued a statement quoting misleading pay figures earlier today. Thankfully most people can see through the threats of BA's PR machine.

Lite

They can try but I don't see as a business how they can come out looking good from this. If they win and they crush the union they have crushed a largely young workforce who are aspiring to a better standard of life. I know they don't care and have no obligation to care either, but they continue to alienate the people that really care about their customers who will eventually take all that training, energy and passion to their competitors.

Agent69

This isn't a theoretical figure based on a notional works rotation. It is the minimum that any full time employee is getting (and it doesn't appear to have been challenged by Unite, so I assume it is true).

MickV

With the level that these people are paid can they really afford to strike for long or even over multiple periods?

I think that by a long way the best and really only hope for MF is through acas.

The more I read into MF I really struggle to think of a group of employees that need their union to fight clever and smart to get them a good deal. Not much I have seen from unite makes me think they can do that.

I started off thinking the strike was awful and strikers pathetic. The more you read into it and Lite's balanced posts the more I am trying to empathise with them. I hope they get a good deal.

henkybaby

I believe it is more an attempt to get some (much needed) attention for their issues than a serious attempt to hurt the airline or its passengers.

But maybe I am naive.

lorcancoyle

[pedant]DUB is open on Christmas Day, but doesn't have any scheduled flights[/pedant] (or so I was told by one of their meteorologists while spending a day there in 1996 or 1997 - he regularly worked that day)

Back on topic, is Cruz including things like down route meal allowances in his numbers? If so that would seem a bit dodgy, yes it's cash, but it's not earnings IMO

(BTW, I'm a died in the wool capitalist who hates trade unions abusing their position on spurious grounds, hello RMT! But this is an action that seems to have a legitimate basis, I wish MF crew the best)