blawson

How does BA cabin staff conditions compare to other airlines - especially Virgin? Are the salaries roughly the same? Pensions? Sick days?

"Originally Posted by Spitfire1
Forgive me if it's been asked, but what happens if after the three strikes have occured there's still no movement on either side?"

I was thinking the same - totally selfish - but I am flying 2 weeks after the last announced strike dates - hotels which cannot be cancelled, trips, etc booked. Tempted to take the iniative and move to another airline now - as there is a fair chance if not resolved - it will be affected as well.

westtexas

Yeah, I have the same fear. I am booked in redemption First ABV-LHR on Feb 19 and LGW-IAH Feb 20. In theory, I should be fine. If they don't have it resolved, however.... well, then I get to combine my irrational fear of being downgraded with the relative inflexibility of a reward ticket!

globesurfer

BA flying staff on longhaul do get paid a little better then Virgin and other UK operators. However, Virgin cabin crew have a relatively high turn over, whereas BA do not, and so come the associated costs with a lower turnover i.e pension. The American carriers, JAL and Cathey pacific all have comparable if not better pay and conditions, especially if you remain a loyal employee. In Europe, the likes of Air France, Lufthansa and KLM all are very comparable although KLM get more time off after some trips.

If nothing happens after the 3 strikes I am guessing that we will be balloted again for strike action. This I would think will be highly unlikely as I do believe that a solution will be found, in addition to BA loosing a lot of money, this will send warning bells to the city of London and major shareholders who will "tell" BA to sort this out once and for all.

Inevitably, the knock on affect of this will last for weeks. So many of you with forward travel plans will be affected. This is the cold hard truth. The only thing to do is contact BA.com or telephone BA to try and get an update on your particular flight.

jhm

I did a Google search for "British Airways strike" and came across British Airways strike averted after agreement reached!

Unfortunately, it was a report from 2004. However, I see that the report says:

I don't know details of this dispute back in 2004 but are these the same BA staff who're now planning to strike ? (If so, I note the timing!)

fraisse10

I think we all will - "we'll take your money, but don't expect us to deliver our side - at least not without asking for more"

oyster

I've managed to stay out of this debate so far but recent events (namely the setting of a date for an actual strike plus some of the comments made on both sides) have led me to the opinion that this impasse needs to be broken.

If this was just the cabin crew versus Willie the Slasher I would have no hesitation in supporting the strike. However it is becoming increasingly obvious to me that it is 21st century economic reality versus 1970s dogma - and last time I looked it was 2007 not 1977.

It's embarassing that we live in a time when even a Labour Chancellor harps on about the benefits of flexible working practices and yet our national airline is riddled with outdated attitudes to change that even die-hard socialists gave up years ago.

I feel sorry for the cabin crew caught in the middle of this - they are having their reputation blighted by a handful of scruffy, middle-aged Scargillites whose only motive is political obstinance.

Good luck Willie, I support you! (in return can we have Krug back in F )

Halo

Ditto due to fly on the 9th.

BBC news is reporting that BA has referred the dispute to ACAS which is probably positive - it implies that a negotiated settlement is the likely outcome, but then again it could be an automatic step to appear not to be at fault in the event a resolution is not reached.

bernardd

Sorry, but I'm afraid I cannot see your argument nor feel any sympathy with this part.

The fact is the economy as a whole cannot afford people retiring at 55, and frankly 60 sounds pretty generous to me - there is a HUGE problem looming overall of us - the demographics are just not going to support this. And in case you're about to argue that your employer promised this when you signed up, let me point out a former employer put a chunk of my pension is Equitable Life - I'm destined to die with my boots on.

IAMORGAN

Exactly!

On another note, look at the state pension -the age increases constantly -ok so we're not PROMISED anything, but I bet there was something in the BA ts and cs that said it could change! Working 'til your sixty seems fair to me -Ł5000 a year extra, it's better than nothing.

wobbly wings

For all reasons discussed before, I believe that if a comparison needs being made it'll have to be with CCs of other airlines, especially UK based.

ElkeNorEast

Retire at 55? The minimum retirement age in the US to get full benefits is now 67. Anyway, what would you do for twenty years + until you shuffled off this mortal coil? How boring retirement looks to me.

bernardd is right... I'm 37 and fear for the next twenty years, as my salary and the salaries of the poor sods entering the workforce now will have to support the millions of baby boomers who have been promised so much through social security. Who's going to pay for it all?

bernardd

It's going the same way in the UK for everyone except Public employees, and that so far as I can see because the present Government doesn't have the cojones to take on the Public Sector unions and point out the facts of life - they seem to want to leave the problem for the next, presumably more right wing, leaders to cop the flak.

I have to say though, as a resident of TX, I don't think Dubya's doing much of a job getting the message about the scale of the problem across.

ajax

Welcome to Europe, m'dear!

You think that Britain has problems with early pensioners drawing full benefits for life, you should see France and Germany (not to mention Belgium, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia). What a mess.

You'd be amazed at the number of beaches left to be visited...

The most useful piece of advice I've ever received is thus: start saving for your retirement now, because no-one else is going to pay for it by the time you get round to retiring.

wobbly wings

Given this is all OT can it be taken to omni and can the mods take action?

Raffles

In the 12 years that I have been in employment, I have never taken a day off sick.

However, if I was an 'average' BA cabin crew member (pre last years agreement) I would have taken 266 days sick-leave by now .....

Sounds a bit odd to me!