Guest proud2beaussie Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 LONDON - British Airways may train cleaners and baggage handlers as cabin crew in a bid to thwart a strike threat. A new strike ballot of British Airways cabin crew is to be held next week. Around one million passengers could see their Easter travel plans ruined if the Unite union organises a 12-day strike in April. British Airways boss Willie Walsh, in a letter to all BA workers, called last night for volunteers “to back BA by training to work alongside cabin crew who choose not to support a strike, so we are ready to keep our customers flying as much as we can if this strike goes ahead”. The decision by the Unite union to hold a fresh vote in a week’s time on possible strike action came after more than a week of talks with the airline failed to resolve the dispute over staff levels and working conditions. Industrial action planned for Christmas was blocked after a court granted an injunction, declaring it illegal Unite will ballot its 12,000 members which make up 98% of the airline’s cabin crew. A spokeswoman for the union said Unite had gone as far as it could in the talks to meet the airline’s demands but the ball was now in BA’s court. The BA dispute is incredible to watch from afar. To see the British flag carrier being torn apart by by two dogma driven parties is reminiscent of the 1930s. The union may well consider adding cloth caps to their wardrobes whilst the management organises the lockout. Today's news from JAL should be a salutory reminder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Hi Nigel Gawd! When I was a child, you would sit on a BOAC VC10 going long haul and over the tannoy would come the announcement. "Members of this crew speak the following languages......" They would then reel off about 15 different languages despite all of the crew being British WASPs. What is the world coming to with Willie Walsh in charge of BA? Cheers Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest proud2beaussie Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Hi Gill, I don't wish to be a doomsayer but there was an announcement from Japan Airlines today,they have applied for bankruptcy and up to 19 routes will disappear from their schedule,I fear that if the BA board does not step in and start running the company as an airline again,and not as a company that has buses with wings,then BA may well be in serious danger of either going to the wall or ending up as a hostile takeover target from a cashed up airline like Emirates,although to perfectly frank if I was an airline CEO at the moment I wouldn't touch BA with the proverbial barge pole. But they must do something before BA becomes even more of a laughing stock than it is already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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