More BA Strikes - When Will The Dispute End?

The bitter dispute between the Unite Union and British Airways has rumbled on even further, as BA cabin crew are about to start the second day of a five-day strike.  The staff walked out at midnight last night, after constant negotiations between the two parties failed to reach any kind of settlement. 

With more strikes on the way next week, travel plans for hundreds of thousands of passengers are set to be ruined again, with the half-term school holidays on the way, students breaking up for University hoping for a cheap break, and passionate England fans, hoping to get to South Africa in time for the World Cup finals.  With England’s first match against the USA on 12^th June, many fans face heartbreak of being stuck inside a stuffy airport terminal, rather than rooting on their heroes in Rustenberg.

On Monday, BA said it was operating 60% of its long-haul flights out of Heathrow and 50% of short-haul.  They also claimed that Gatwick airport was unaffected by the strikes, and many cabin crew were not supporting the strike and still working, as some need the income to keep family/independent support going.  The latest dispute is over pay demands and terms & conditions within of the agreement.  British Airways has also accused Unite of failing to take up offers of further late-night negotiations and it was disappointed that the union had restored to “negotiation through the media.” 

The boss of BA, Willie Walsh is coming under intense pressure to relinquish his role as head of the company.  It seems that Unite are firmly putting the blame firmly on his doors, rather than on British Airways the company.  Despite recording record losses last Friday, Walsh told ITN that he was determined to fight on and not give in to Unite’s latest demands, as well as putting pressure on the government to give out compensation for last month’s chaotic airline disruption, due to the volcanic ash in Iceland. 

The last stoppages, which took place just on the dawn of the Easter holidays and cabin crew who went on strike back then were not paid.  Unite’s problem is not with this formality, but with the travel concessions towards staff who took part.  They are demanding for these concessions to be restored, otherwise all of the latest strikes will take place.  Latest talks were brought to a standstill on Saturday evening, when union protestors stormed into the venue where negotiations were being held.  Allegedly, they were given the venue’s description by a Union leader via his updates on the social networking site, Twitter. 

Last week, British Airways was granted an injunction to prevent the strikes in the High Court, as they ruled that the Unite union had not reported the results of its strike ballot correctly to its members.  Three days later, an appeal by the union overturned the decision.  Along with this strike, two further five-day walkouts are scheduled to begin on May 30^th and June 5^th.

The dispute, which has dragged on for months between BA and Unite has involved clashes on significant job cuts, working conditions and pay decreases.  Tony Woodley and Willie Walsh are both as bad as one another and one wonders to think when this dispute will actually come to an end.  To be honest, it has brought British Airways reputation to its knees and if someone doesn’t give in and budge soon, it won’t be long before ‘The World’s Favourite Airline,’ may end up facing total extinction.  

Railstrike Averted By High Court - But The War Is Not Over!

Thursday’s high court ruling of a national rail strike was averted, but the war is far from over, as the RMT Union has insisted they are still prepared to strike in the future.

The high court ruled in favour of Network Rail, who granted an emergency injunction against the RMT Union.  With a threat of a rail strike out of the way, Gordon Brown is now firmly widely expected to call an expected May 6^th date for the General Election on Tuesday.  The TUC chief, Brendan Barber is blaming the Chancellor Alistair Darling for him to reduce the country’s budget deficits.  He has warned that if not, more strikes could be the way of action this year, following the Network Rail action and the recent cabin crew strikes from British Airways.

Millions of passengers would have been affected by the four-day strike, which would have started on Tuesday morning.  If the strike had gone ahead, only one in five trains had been expected to run.  In the ballot last week, 54% of those who took part in the RMT ballot voted in favour of a strike, but Network Rail’s claims were reliable that the ballot had been unconventional and unreliable.  Only 112 of 4,556 rail signallers were balloted, which showed a complete lack of inaccuracy.  Network Rail suggested that ‘Ghost Votes,’ were used for the ballot.  Some votes used even included signal boxes that have not been opened or used since the 1960’s.

Signal workers can now not strike on Tuesday and a few hours later, maintenance workers also called off their strike.  It means that now delays and cancellations after the Easter weekend are now very unlikely.  Network Rail said it had unearthed massive inaccuracies in the RMT ballot and that the Union had failed to comply with the 1992 Trade Union and Labour Relations Act.  Over 300 potential votes were not cast.  Areas such as Rugby were not balloted, whereas South Tottenham was.  At South Tottenham, eleven signallers were asked to vote, but Network Rail discovered that only three are employed in the area.

Meanwhile, no resolution is in sight with the British Airways cabin crew strike.  The crew have already taken part in seven days of strike action, and talks between the two parties, Unite Union and BA have grounded into deadlock again.  Both are still blaming one another and more chaos is predicted. 

For now, the rail strike is off, but it is far from finished.  Network Rail may have won this battle, but the war is far from finished.  

BA Strike - Two Tribes At War Means Misery For Millions

At midnight last night, cabin crew staff from the ‘world’s favourite airline,’ walked out to start a three-day strike that will have severe ramifications for many’s travel plans this weekend.  British Airways is at the moment in a real mess, it doesn’t really matter who is to blame as the outcome is the same.  Millions will be made miserable and frustrated by the current and upcoming planned strikes. 

Ongoing talks between the airline and the Unite Union collapsed yesterday afternoon, after 48 hours of fruitless negotiation.  The blame game has already begun, following the failure to agree, and both parties are blaming the others for the failure in negotiations.  Prime Minister Gordon Brown has demanded the failure of talks as ‘unacceptable’ and has called for the strike to be called off immediately.  He is unlikely to get his wish though, it is quite possibly the worst nightmare he faces, especially with a General Election d-day looming ever closer.

The three-day strike this weekend is set to be followed by another four-day walkout from the 27^th March.  British Airways claim that 65% of passengers will still reach their destinations this weekend, but I think that is more of a hopeful, rather than a positive statement.  A total of 1,100 BA flights are expected to be cancelled during these strikes, with Heathrow and Gatwick airports obviously being the most affected airports.

The strikes are over the wages that cabin crew staff earn when employed by BA.  With the economic downturn still having its effects, British Airways had planned to cut their budget by 62.5million, which included reduction in their staffing wages.  Obviously, cabin crew have a right to feel annoyed, but I think they are forgetting the job they are doing, and though raising the issue or thinking of a more conventional plan with the management would have been a decent solution, striking was certainly the wrong answer.

Also, with news coming through last night that the railways possibly going on strike on a national basis, for the first time in 16 years over the Easter weekend after signal workers voted in favour of industrial action, also following employment issues, this time with cuts, the torment for people wanting to getaway could be able to get doubly worse. 

It looks like it could well be a miserable Easter for travellers, unless solutions in crisis meetings are found immediately, my advice would be to stay at home and avoid the chaos.