 |
|
|
#1
12-08-2005, 01:01
|
||||
|
||||
|
BA on strike.
All shorthaul flights today have been cancelled and BA longhaul flights suspended.
Check- in staff have gone on strike in support of a member of catering staff who was dismissed. BA really know how to put a damper on peoples holidays. I'd never fly with them through choice.
__________________
If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat? 
|
| Guest Info |
|
+:+:+ Forum Headquarter +:+:+ |
|
#2
12-08-2005, 01:05
|
||||
|
||||
|
Not BAs fault I think, the catering company Gate Gourmet sacked 800 workers and the BA staff walked out spontaneously. The strike is unofficial, no ballot, so it looks like a real mess.
Good luck to anyone passing through Heathrow
|
|
#3
12-08-2005, 01:17
|
||||
|
||||
|
Sorry to hear that Diz, hope you are not stuck out there for too long
|
|
#4
12-08-2005, 01:23
|
||||
|
||||
|
thank god i am going with thai air i nearly went with BA cus it was the same price when i booked it, i would be sat at heathrow on sat waiting for a flight that wasn't going anywhere, fewwwwwww!!!
__________________
YOU can TAKE the GIRL out OF the BAR, but YOU can't TAKE the BAR out OF the GIRL !!!!
|
|
#5
12-08-2005, 01:39
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
I would be surprised if BA let this go on for long without being resolved. Trouble is, it will take a day or so to sort out the chaos
__________________
If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat?
|
|
#6
12-08-2005, 05:03
|
||||
|
||||
|
Maybe it's your turn again Diz? You could always share your 'air miles' with your mates.....
|
|
#7
12-08-2005, 13:54
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
 IJ
__________________
ROLL ON OCTOBER........
|
wish I was on it - even withj no food|
#10
13-08-2005, 02:07
|
||||
|
||||
|
I feel for good old BA out of this, they have lost 10m a day because their bloody check-in staff spat the dummy. The airline will also have to sort out the knock-on problems of the poor saps stuck on the wrong continent and planes marooned all over the world.
This is the third year on the bounce that those militant throwbacks have found a reason to go on strike in August. This had nothing to do with BA, it was an argument between one of their suppliers and staff. There was no reason at all for BA check in staff to get involved, and even less reason for the baggage rummagers, sorry, baggage 'handlers' to get involved. Shame on them all
|
|
#11
13-08-2005, 17:40
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
just like to add check in staff nothing to do with it. the gate gourmet employees had a good reason to strike if you ask me but the ba employees that went out in sympathy are stupid,it was in sympathy and because 90% of the gate gourmet staff are married or datuing the cargo and baggage workers of ba. steve
__________________
 "Oral sex makes ones' day, but an al sex makes ones' hole weak." 
|
|
#12
13-08-2005, 18:11
|
||||
|
||||
|
does any one think that the out going non BA flights will be affected in any way???????
__________________
YOU can TAKE the GIRL out OF the BAR, but YOU can't TAKE the BAR out OF the GIRL !!!!
|
|
#13
13-08-2005, 18:14
|
||||
|
||||
|
BA would now be perfectly within their rights, and the law, to sack all the people that went on strike. They won't, but I for one think they should.
|
|
#14
13-08-2005, 18:19
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
TG911 is boarding right now.....
__________________
"管它黑貓白貓，會抓老鼠的就是好貓"
|
|
#15
13-08-2005, 18:24
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
|
|
#16
13-08-2005, 18:34
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
__________________
"管它黑貓白貓，會抓老鼠的就是好貓"
|
|
#17
13-08-2005, 18:40
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
|
|
#18
13-08-2005, 20:32
|
||||
|
||||
|
I find BA staff (cabin crew and others) to be very far up their own asses so the company does not have much sympathy from me, and I will never fly with them again following the last flight I had with them in 1994.
The people who lost their jobs were not directly employed by BA. Steve's (3raps) inside knowledge helps us understand more behind the reason why baggage handlers came out on strike. I guess the link goes like this: BA needs to reduce costs to be competitive with other airlines It squeezes the profit margins on it's catering supplier (Gate Gourmet) The catering supplier then has to cut it's costs so sacks 800 of it's employees BA staff who are related or friendly with the dismissed Gourmet staff then come out on strike. Thousands of BA customers are then left stranded, delayed and helpless and may not fly with BA again. Are profit margins in the airline industry so tight that the cost of producing a meal can result in this? Maybe BA should look to cut it's costs elsewhere.
|
|
#19
14-08-2005, 15:50
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
gate gourmet used to be owned by ba before it shipped it out to save money.gate gourmet was severly understaffed so the exisisting staff where getting good overtime,gate gourmet then cancelled all o/t and bought in extra workers (contractors) on more money than the exisiting staff who then downed tools in protest.they done it all illegally but i would be pissed off to.legally all the gate gourmet and ba staff that walked out can be sacked.personally i think maybe the spearheaders should be.i feel sorry for the travellers it is annoying to have this sort of hassle effect your holiday. steve
__________________
"Oral sex makes ones' day, but an al sex makes ones' hole weak."
|
|
#21
14-08-2005, 17:30
|
||||
|
||||
|
Many of the catering staff WERE apparently BA staff (and hence TGWU members), but when the contracts were outsourced, they were transferred to the new employer. Recently there have been a lot of redundancy noticies issued by that employer. AND now a load of temporary staff have turned up to work for that firm.
So look at it from the baggage handlers' point of view. They've seen their colleagues transferred to a third party company which has promptly started to lay them off and replace them with temporary staff. Nice. And of course the BA staff are probably extremely worried (perhaps with good reason) that they're next in line for the same treatment. It's hard for the passengers but that shouldn't take away the moral right that workers have to stand up for themselves. Management of firms like BA can't use passengers as human shields for unreasonable treatment of employees.
__________________
"管它黑貓白貓，會抓老鼠的就是好貓"
|
|
#22
14-08-2005, 17:54
|
||||
|
||||
|
I agree that people have the right to strike, but the laws in this country are that lightening strikes are illegal and 7 days notice must be given. No notice was given and the people hardest hit are innocent passengers, who are keeping BA employees in a job in the first place. The action of the strikers has increased the chances of them losing their jobs even more due to a probable decrease in BA's future revenue.
|
|
#23
14-08-2005, 18:01
|
||||
|
||||
|
Well, I'm not sure how many current Gate Gourmet employees used to be BA employees, but the reality is that the BA catering was first bought by Swissair, who subsequently went bust, and they were then taken over by an American venture capital company. BA are at least twice removed from responsibility for Gate Gourmet employees.
It looks, to me, like the TGWU which represents both BA and GG staff has been making mischief and getting away with it. The GG staff were in a straight fight with their employers, and the union knew full fine well that there is no way that BA would sack their staff for walking out. This industry represents the last opportunity for the anachronistic dinosaur of the TGWU to flex its muscles and they do it. I really do not see where BA went wrong here, maybe they did squeeze their catering supplier, but that is all part of business in a free market. Virgin pulled the plug on Gate Gourmet this year and their staff did not down tools in sympathy did they? Business is business, and customers should come first. The BA staff who went on strike should be ashamed of themselves. If they want to show support for employees of other firms there are better ways of doing it than forcing poor saps to spend four nights in a carpark outside the airport.
|
|
#24
14-08-2005, 19:18
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
I agree with the fact that Virgin pulled the plug, and if BA do the same it would be justified from a business point of veiw. It seems to me that one of the main problems is that Gate Gourmet is up to it's neck in debt and possibly looking for a "get-out". I don't know the full background to the dispute but feel that the heavy handed way they sacked ALL the workers , including those off sick or on holiday, was a contributing factor in the dispute escalating. Of course the unions were stirring things up in the background and none of the leaders would condemn the "unofficial" action but who would have paid any attention to a group of catering workers being sacked. Everyone wants the cheapest fares possible, and airlines want to boost their profits but cost cutting can have knock-on effects (as I've seen |
