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BA strike

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Headset 57

BA strike

Post by Headset 57 » Fri Mar 12, 2010 1:36 pm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8563728.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


BA strike: Union announces dates in March

Len McCluskey, Unite: "We are unable to recommend BA's offer"

The union representing British Airways cabin crew has said its members will go on strike for three days from 20 March and for four days from 27 March.

The union confirmed it would not strike over Easter, but warned there could be further action after 14 April if a resolution had not been agreed.

The union said it will also ballot its members on a new offer from BA but said it could not recommend it.

But BA boss Willie Walsh told the BBC that the offer was no longer available.

He said the offer was conditional on strike action being averted, and so had been withdrawn.

He said the two parties were "not close at all" to coming to an agreement.

Mr Walsh described union proposals for staff pay cuts as "morally wrong", but said he was available 24 hours a day to discuss "credible alternatives" to BA's cost cutting measures that have angered cabin crew.

He said Unite had failed to provide any credible plan to date.

'No justification'

The union said the action was "regrettable" but said that BA's rejection of its offer had made strike action "inevitable".

Passengers whose flights are cancelled should get a full refund, or may be able to rearrange their BA flight date
Rochelle Turner, Which?

Your rights in the BA strike

Len McCluskey, Unite's assistant general secretary, told the BBC that the union had "made enormous strides and significant offers that meet the demands of BA".

He said the union was available to meet BA "anytime, anywhere" for further negotiations.

The airline said: "Unite's action has no shred of justification. Cabin crew face no pay cut or reduction in terms and conditions - and remain the best rewarded in the UK airline industry.

"We are very sorry for the stress and disruption Unite's decision will cause. We are currently considering our response to this strike threat and what action we will need to take to minimise disruption."

It added that all its flights are operating normally at the moment.

Consumer group Which? said passengers should be able to get their money back if they are directly affected by the strike, but only once their specific flight has been officially cancelled.

"Passengers whose flights are cancelled should get a full refund, or may be able to rearrange their BA flight date, but that won't compensate for the time and money lost on hotel bookings or tour dates," said Rochelle Turner from Which?.

Back-up plans

Questions have been raised about how many of the 7,500 cabin crew that voted for action last month will actually go on strike.
BA planes
BA has already made plans to cope with strike action

BA has said that those taking part will lose pay and perks, including no longer getting the right to buy heavily-discounted tickets.

The airline has already made extensive contingency plans in case of strike action.

Speaking before the strike dates announcement, a spokesperson for the airline told the BBC that BA would do everything it could to operate as many flights as possible during any disruption.

It has already trained 1,000 staff to work as cabin crew to cover for any striking workers.

It is also looking to charter aircraft which come with their own crew - known in the industry as a wet hire - in order to operate as many flights as possible.

The spokesperson said flights from London City Airport would not be affected, while 70% of flights from Gatwick, including all long-haul flights, should be operational.

At BA's most important hub, Heathrow, he said the airline would be able to offer some long and short-haul services.

Cutting costs

BA cabin crew are striking over changes imposed by the airline last November, which saw a reduction in the number of crew on long-haul flights and the introduction of a pay freeze from this year.

The airline is also in discussion with baggage handling staff at Heathrow, but a spokesperson for BA said any talk of strike action involving them would be "extremely speculative and premature".

BA says the cuts are necessary to save money. Last month it said it lost £342m for the last nine months of 2009. That followed an annual loss of more than £400m reported in May last year.

Unite has acknowledged the "need for change" and has proposed its own cost-cutting package worth £63m through a combination of pay-cuts and part-time working, but this was rejected by BA earlier this week.

The airline said the package would not save as much as Unite claimed, and would involve pay cuts for crew members.

Martin
Posts: 6644
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:35 pm
Location: West Midlands

Re: BA strike

Post by Martin » Sat Mar 13, 2010 12:55 am

Headset 57 wrote:
The airline has already made extensive contingency plans in case of strike action.

Speaking before the strike dates announcement, a spokesperson for the airline told the BBC that BA would do everything it could to operate as many flights as possible during any disruption.

It has already trained 1,000 staff to work as cabin crew to cover for any striking workers.

It is also looking to charter aircraft which come with their own crew - known in the industry as a wet hire - in order to operate as many flights as possible.
Astreaus, Titan & Blueline have all apparently been approached to supply aircraft/crew with BA also approaching other airline to charter aircraft in

Martin
Image

daveb2
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2010 4:24 pm

Re: BA strike

Post by daveb2 » Wed Mar 17, 2010 5:46 pm

I undestand that Air Finland and Transavia are also supplying A/C.

Dave

burnsy133
Posts: 114
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2010 10:39 am

Re: BA strike

Post by burnsy133 » Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:01 pm

Just noticed that both sides have agreed to last ditch talks...time to stand down me thinks, strike will no doubt be called off.

Headset 57

Re: BA strike

Post by Headset 57 » Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:03 pm

These are chartered as strike busters:

* Air Finland
* Arkefly
* Astraeus
* EuroAtlantic Airways
* Jet2
* Titan Airways
* Transavia

burnsy133
Posts: 114
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2010 10:39 am

Re: BA strike

Post by burnsy133 » Thu Mar 18, 2010 3:52 pm

Add Ryanair to that should it go ahead....which it wont.

Headset 57

Re: BA strike

Post by Headset 57 » Fri Mar 19, 2010 9:55 am

The following are BA charters during the strike due into LHR:

CS-TFT 767 Euro Atlantic
G-STRP 320 Astreus
G-STRW 757 Astreus
CS-TLO 767 Euro Atlantic
PH-AHX 767 ArkeFly
CS-TLX 757 Euro Atlantic
SE-RHT 737 Viking
PH-HZB 737 Transavia
G-LSAA 757 Jet 2
G-CELK 737 Jet 2
G-LSAE 757 Jet 2
G-CGET 737 Jet 2
PH-HZM 737 Transavia
G-CELV 737 Jet 2
PH-HZD 737 Transavia
G-POWD 767 Titan
G-ZAPX 757 Titan
G-CELY 737 Jet 2
G-OJIB 757 Astreus
G-BPEJ 757 BA
G-EUYG 320 BA delivered last night.

Ryanair doing the LGW stuff.

Headset 57

Re: BA strike

Post by Headset 57 » Fri Mar 19, 2010 11:00 am

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8575314.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Headset 57

Re: BA strike

Post by Headset 57 » Fri Mar 19, 2010 3:16 pm

BA strike: Cabin crew to walk out as talks collapse
BA planes
BA says that 65% of passengers will be able to fly during the first strike

A strike by British Airways cabin crew will go ahead after talks between the airline and the Unite union collapsed.

A three-day strike begins at midnight on Saturday, with a four-day strike scheduled to commence on 27 March.

BA said 65% of passengers would reach their destination during the action. Chief executive Willie Walsh said the strike was "deeply regrettable".

Unite's joint general secretary Tony Woodley claimed that BA "ultimately wants to go to war with this union".

Separately, railway signal workers have voted in favour of strikes in a row over jobs and safety.

'Serve passengers'

A total of 1,100 BA flights out of the 1,950 scheduled to operate during the first three-day strike will be cancelled.

Willie Walsh: "We've made every effort to resolve this"

At Gatwick, all long-haul flights and more than half of short-haul flights are expected to operate as normal.

At Heathrow, more than 60% of long-haul flights will operate, though only 30% of short-haul flights are expected to operate with the help of aircraft leased from eight rival airlines.

"Tens of thousands of BA people stand ready to serve our passengers and BA will be flying and will continue to fly through these periods of industrial action," Mr Walsh said.

He added he remained available for talks on reaching a "sensible" agreement, but said that BA must cut costs.

An offer they had put forward to the union, which had not been accepted, would be "formally withdrawn once industrial action commences", Mr Walsh said.

Pay demand

The airline and the union held talks late into the night on Thursday and resumed discussions on Friday.

Unite's Tony Woodley: "I'm extremely disapprointed for our members"

Mr Woodley had called on BA to put an earlier deal to end the strikes "back on the table" - a move he said would allow him to call off the strike while union members considered it.

That settlement offer had included commitments on working hours and annual pay rises in exchange for the cabin crew workers agreeing to BA's planned £62.5m of cost cuts.

But after announcing that the strike would go ahead, Mr Woodley said that the airline "did not want to negotiate".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8576727.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Headset 57

Re: BA strike

Post by Headset 57 » Sat Mar 20, 2010 9:38 am

CS-TFT 767 Euro Atlantic
CS-TLO 767 Euro Atlantic
G-STRW 757 Astreus
G-STRP 320 Astreus
PH-AHY 767 Transavia
G-CELB 737 Jet 2
SE-RHU 737 Viking
G-CGET 737 Jet 2
G-LSAG 757 Jet 2
G-LSAA 757 Jet 2
PH-HZE 737 Transavia
G-POWD 767 Astreus
PH-HZD 737 Transavia
G-ZAPX 757 Titan
G-CELK 737 Jet 2
PH-HZK 737 Transavia
Due Saturday
CS-TLX 757 Euro Atlantic
G-OJIB 757 Astreus
G-CELY 737 Jet 2
G-BPEJ 757 BA

Headset 57

Re: BA strike

Post by Headset 57 » Tue Mar 23, 2010 9:50 pm

BA today announced that it was pretty much a case of business as usual this morning, despite strike action by cabin crew, members of the Unite union.

In what is becoming an increasingly acrimonious and expensive strike, union leaders pointed at rows of grounded aircraft sporting BA livery to illustrate their point that the union was winning the battle.
http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm? ... e=s1i71341" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

BA - Planes Not Grounded, They're Just Resting

A BA spokesman refuted the strikers' claims by pointing out that the grounded planes were not BA planes at all, but those of another airline whose livery was "a bit similar and has BA painted on it".

When pressed further, the BA spokesman said that anyway, even if the planes were BA planes, they weren't grounded, they were just resting.

"You'd need a rest too from time to time if you were flying all over the shop carrying people inside your belly," the spokesman insisted. "Planes are no different to people. They need a breather from time to time too. I have no doubt that some of those planes are snatching forty winks as we speak. Planes can be heavy sleepers on account of all the work they put in. Let me tell you laddie, if you worked as hard as those planes do, you'd need a rest too."

"You talk bollocks," a Unite official remarked.

"Yeah, well you are bollocks," the BA spokesman countered.

The dispute goes on

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