Has Len McCluskey admitted that Unite’s actions increased the British Airways redundancies?

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• MYSELF says:

  11 Aug11 August 13:20

  Not just ‘Red Len’ but the ENTIRE senior team should hang…….. Their heads in shame. They will of course still he on those nice 6 figure salaries as they were throughout as they played “let’s pretend it’s the 70s” and hung their poor members out to dry.

  Imho they are an utter disgrace, the whole corrupt, rotten lot of them.
  I don’t imagine it will be long before they take and money to send out a “now, more than ever, YOU need to make sure your monthly payments are up to date”

  • Lady London says:

    11 Aug11 August 18:10

    i do not believe that factually it would have been possible to get the same level of improvements to the offer from BA to cabin crew as pilots achieved.

    Cabin crew are not scarce and little training lag for new ones. Lower paid so less room for manoeuvre. In all scenarios far fewer numbers needed to do the job. Easily replaceable as soon as recovery shoots appear.

    However perhaps more options to go part time, retain returning rights but request a sabbatical, be able to choose to be rostered predominantly longhaul or shorthaul routes for 2-3 year, options for jobsharing short term…. the blow maybe could have been softened for some with intelligent union support.

    But what do we know, looking from the outside?maybe cabin crew were better represented by their union than it looks.

    • Felicity B. says:

      11 Aug11 August 23:08

      No we were not. The unions let us down badly and in the midst of the crisis Unite removed many members from the Facebook page saying that their subs weren’t up to date (they were!) These members then did not know what was going on, it was horrendous.

• Eyal Ben Cohen says:

  11 Aug11 August 13:32

  OT: my flight has been cancelled by BA and they offer a voucher, or avios. Do any of you know if it is possible to get an actual cash refund? The flight was booked last Nov…

  • Rob says:

    11 Aug11 August 13:37

    Yes, but you need to call. Ring and you get the money back.

    • Peter Stewart says:

      11 Aug11 August 15:32

      I had to ring first thing in the morning when they open to get through to get a cash refund on mine otherwise it’s just a recorded message saying that they can’t answer at the moment. It took me several attempts over 3 days to get a person that could do a refund.

  • Felicity B. says:

    11 Aug11 August 23:10

    If your flight is cancelled you are entitled to a full refund, but you have to phone in and request it.

• Rob says:

  11 Aug11 August 13:56

  On the money as always Rob. Unite have failed the cabin crew so badly. If they had have engaged from the start like the pilots did there would have been a completely different outcome.

  Cruz and McCluskey have used the staff as pawns in the competition between their egos.

  • Mr(s) Entitled says:

    11 Aug11 August 16:48

    Like it or not, I think Cruz has tried to work in the interest of his shareholders. I’m not sure one can say that McCluskey even tried to work in the interest of his members.

• Kathy French says:

  11 Aug11 August 15:16

  Unite need a shake up. Refusing to negociate makes no sense.

• P says:

  11 Aug11 August 16:01

  So what happened to the BA mitigation option of unpaid leave for Cabin Crew, assume that will still go ahead during winter 2020/21 at a time of BAs chosing, one would hope for crews budgeting sake a week at a time.

  As for this continued fixaton of Unite to remove slots who do they think is going to take them over, which UK airline comes to mind with sufficient resources . Would the union and the membership be happy for the jobs and slots to go to an offshore based airline which is the likely end game if they succeed .

• Mikeact says:

  11 Aug11 August 17:19

  Courtesy of @ChrisC the other day, on the subject of slots.

  You need slots at many airports across the world and you can’t look at them in total isolation.
  For example BA normally runs 4 flights a day ex LGW to AMS. They need slots at both LGW and AMS to do that as AMS is also slot controlled.
  UK gov could say 80/20 no longer applies so BA can cancel flights to AMS with no risk of losing the LGW slots.
  But if the EU does reinstate the rule then BA will then just lose the slots at AMS unless it does use them for passenger traffic (it’s not good publicity to just run empty slot sitting flights and they still cost money to run) From say LHR or LCY or (unlikely) from a U.K. regional airport.

  AA runs 3/4 flights LHR-JFK. It could drop ex LHR if the U.K. eased the 80/20 rule but it would still be required to still use those slots at JFK unless the US also suspended the rules. Hence these slot easing are done on an international basis.

• Andy says:

  11 Aug11 August 18:18

  Its like reading the Daily Mail letter page where people who are neither impacted or have very limited knowledge hold such strong opinions…….not sure if they understand that Unite is a democratic Union and Mr McCluskey is their elected leader…..right or wrong the decision would have been made in the members best interest. Reasonable article but I’d much rather hear from people affected than Trade Union haters!.

  • Briandt says:

    11 Aug11 August 21:20

    @Andy “decision would have been made in the members best interests”…… Jeez, if this is what you really believe then I really feel for the paid up members.

  • Felicity B. says:

    11 Aug11 August 23:18

    Well here’s a word from a (soon to be ex) Cabin Crew member; Unite’s performance was abysmal and GMB were worse! We were completely let down & felt unrepresented.
    The Unions strung us out to the very last moment, we hung on hoping for assistance. At the last minute Union emails came out saying “read BAs proposals ” (the same proposals they told us for months to ignore).
    When they FINALLY decided to engage with BA it was too late, time had run out! Many of us just took Voluntary Redundancy in utter despair.

  • Steve says:

    11 Aug11 August 23:23

    I think a sizeable share of the readers here would lean toward the Daily Mail, just mention dinghies in tomorrow’s comments and you’ll have them come at you like a fish pedicure.

    • Spursdebs says:

      12 Aug12 August 07:18

      But you will still take the help and knowledge of the HFP collective even if they are a dirty DM readers if you need it won’t you, which is why you are here in first place like the rest of us.

    • AJA says:

      12 Aug12 August 12:03

      I don’t care what newspapers people read. I don’t care whether they are to the left of Stalin or the right of Himmler. That’s none of my concern and not relevant to a travel blog. I don’t even care if they are champagne socialists living it large in first class or true blue Tory Hooray Henry’s sitting in the last row of economy. What I appreciate is the views on travel related matters and help and advice offered. Though at a stretch you could call crossing the channel in an inflatable boat travel related so fair game to be discussed, any view on where is the best place to sit? 🙂

  • Aaron C says:

    13 Aug13 August 12:26

    Your joking?
    Anyone who’s been involved with unions in any capacity knows how corrupt they are.
    I’m not even convinced they always act in members’ interests. They think they are but there’s a lot of group think and need to show unity involved that stifles real debate.
    The unions are a real let down which is an absolute shame as they’re needed more than ever in this unstable economy.

• TonyT says:

  11 Aug11 August 18:30

  My experience of UNISON supporting my redundancy a few years ago echos this lack of preparation. They are full of lovely words, yet failed to get the detail. If I hadn’t intervened myself I’d have been given short shrift from a bullying employer. UNITE have let down their long Paying contributions

  • Chris Heyes says:

    11 Aug11 August 20:00

    Tony T@ Why o Why would you work for a bullying employer I’D be out of the door after 1st day lol
    My Son once went for a job interview got the Job, but was told he would have to wear a suit.
    He said, but I’M working in “back office” not meeting the public, when i’m meeting the public i’ll wear a suit but not otherwise
    He was told it was company policy, he laughed and said, “get someone else”
    Company bullying just to suit the ceo’s (he earns 80k+ outside London) earned more when he worked for Microsoft with free flights (could wear jeans and t-shirt)
    When he lectures or a talk he mainly wears a suit if necessary
    I Myself wear a suit weddings and funerals (to many of both lol)

    • mvcvz says:

      11 Aug11 August 23:40

      Absolutely no-one cares about your son’s attire.

      • Mike says:

        12 Aug12 August 07:25

        +1 Pretty disrespectful to take a job then quit on day 1. Also not very bright not to understand the company dress policy before accepting the job if it means that much to you

        • Chris Heyes says:

          12 Aug12 August 08:26

          better to quit on day 1 than work in a job, then continuously moan about it lol

      • Chris Heyes says:

        12 Aug12 August 08:24

        mvcvz@ except you lol

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