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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jul/15/british-airways-cabin-crew-strikers-prepared-for-long-haul
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| British Airways cabin crew strikers prepared for long haul | British Airways cabin crew strikers prepared for long haul |
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| The sweep of silver hair, fierce stare and rousing speech by Bolsover MP Dennis Skinner was vintage 1980s strike-era. “I’m as proud of you as I was of the miners,” he told striking British Airways cabin crew demonstrating outside parliament this week. | The sweep of silver hair, fierce stare and rousing speech by Bolsover MP Dennis Skinner was vintage 1980s strike-era. “I’m as proud of you as I was of the miners,” he told striking British Airways cabin crew demonstrating outside parliament this week. |
| Most were born long after Margaret Thatcher closed down the pits, but the comparison was rapturously welcomed. If this 21st-century action, mainly organised via social media, has had little of the miners’ economic or political impact, it has already, under the radar, become a six-month-long standoff. | Most were born long after Margaret Thatcher closed down the pits, but the comparison was rapturously welcomed. If this 21st-century action, mainly organised via social media, has had little of the miners’ economic or political impact, it has already, under the radar, become a six-month-long standoff. |
| BA insists the action is not affecting its customers, or its bottom line unduly, even as thousands of its youngest, newest recruits angrily walk out. | BA insists the action is not affecting its customers, or its bottom line unduly, even as thousands of its youngest, newest recruits angrily walk out. |
| A two-week strike comes to an end on Sunday; a further fortnight of strikes has been called from Wednesday. It encompasses a significant minority of BA’s cabin crew: the “mixed fleet”, around one-third of the airline’s 16,500 crew, operating both short-haul and long-haul flights. | A two-week strike comes to an end on Sunday; a further fortnight of strikes has been called from Wednesday. It encompasses a significant minority of BA’s cabin crew: the “mixed fleet”, around one-third of the airline’s 16,500 crew, operating both short-haul and long-haul flights. |
| All new recruits join the flexible mixed fleet, set up in 2011 during the last bitter BA industrial dispute, and have poorer terms and conditions than other crew. Around 3,100 have joined Unite and voted to strike, concluding that pay on the “flexible” fleet doesn’t represent a living wage. | All new recruits join the flexible mixed fleet, set up in 2011 during the last bitter BA industrial dispute, and have poorer terms and conditions than other crew. Around 3,100 have joined Unite and voted to strike, concluding that pay on the “flexible” fleet doesn’t represent a living wage. |
| Pay was the trigger for the dispute: basic salary starts at £12,100, although BA said an independent audit showed full-time crew earned at least £21,000 with add-ons. The union says £16,000-17,000 is a typical figure, and crew at the Westminster rally agree: one, now a customer service manager earning £27,000, says they had worked for five years before promotion “and every P60 says I’ve earned under £20k”. | Pay was the trigger for the dispute: basic salary starts at £12,100, although BA said an independent audit showed full-time crew earned at least £21,000 with add-ons. The union says £16,000-17,000 is a typical figure, and crew at the Westminster rally agree: one, now a customer service manager earning £27,000, says they had worked for five years before promotion “and every P60 says I’ve earned under £20k”. |
| Long-haul stopovers have lost their allure for many, with allowances that do not cover the cost of the cheapest meal in most airport hotels abroad where staff stay – even before the value of the pound tumbled. “We take Pot Noodle in our luggage because food costs so much,” says Suzie, a striking crew member. | Long-haul stopovers have lost their allure for many, with allowances that do not cover the cost of the cheapest meal in most airport hotels abroad where staff stay – even before the value of the pound tumbled. “We take Pot Noodle in our luggage because food costs so much,” says Suzie, a striking crew member. |
| Unite reps say second jobs for supposedly full-time crew are not uncommon. Alex, a purser with three years’ service at BA, moonlights in hospitality on her days off. “They should be rest days after long flights, acclimatising to UK time. Instead, I work for £10 an hour in central London, serving drinks, on a zero-hours contract. When I joined BA I thought it would be different.” She was recently turned down for a small bank loan. “They said my payslips don’t show the figures BA tells people we earn.” Allowances, incentives and bonuses over basic pay count for little when applying for a mortgage, crew say. | Unite reps say second jobs for supposedly full-time crew are not uncommon. Alex, a purser with three years’ service at BA, moonlights in hospitality on her days off. “They should be rest days after long flights, acclimatising to UK time. Instead, I work for £10 an hour in central London, serving drinks, on a zero-hours contract. When I joined BA I thought it would be different.” She was recently turned down for a small bank loan. “They said my payslips don’t show the figures BA tells people we earn.” Allowances, incentives and bonuses over basic pay count for little when applying for a mortgage, crew say. |
| People say, why don’t you quit and get a better-paid job? But I love the job. I just want a living wage | People say, why don’t you quit and get a better-paid job? But I love the job. I just want a living wage |
| While a pay deal of 7% over three years has been agreed in principle, crew have refused to accept sanctions against those involved in earlier walkouts: the withdrawal of bonuses and travel perks. That has been exacerbated by £250 rewards dangled before those who now come to work: paid for from bonuses stripped from strikers, as internal emails to staff show. | While a pay deal of 7% over three years has been agreed in principle, crew have refused to accept sanctions against those involved in earlier walkouts: the withdrawal of bonuses and travel perks. That has been exacerbated by £250 rewards dangled before those who now come to work: paid for from bonuses stripped from strikers, as internal emails to staff show. |
| Labour has backed the strikers: an early-day motion tabled by Lisa Nandy MP notes that group chief executive Willie Walsh is paid 533 times the starting basic pay of a mixed fleet crew member. Nandy says: “MPs from all parties have been shocked to hear from young women in particular, struggling on poverty wages at the national carrier, having to take out payday loans to survive. This is not an acceptable face of British business.” | Labour has backed the strikers: an early-day motion tabled by Lisa Nandy MP notes that group chief executive Willie Walsh is paid 533 times the starting basic pay of a mixed fleet crew member. Nandy says: “MPs from all parties have been shocked to hear from young women in particular, struggling on poverty wages at the national carrier, having to take out payday loans to survive. This is not an acceptable face of British business.” |
| She adds: “BA could resolve this simply and easily if it stopped spending time and energy on trying to break the strike and instead spent it on its own staff.” | She adds: “BA could resolve this simply and easily if it stopped spending time and energy on trying to break the strike and instead spent it on its own staff.” |
| Wet-leasing, or hiring aircraft and crew from elsewhere, has allowed BA to operate 99.5% of its flights during the recent action. Nine Qatar Airways planes, otherwise grounded by sanctions brought by neighbouring countries in the Gulf, have been flying a chunk of BA’s short-haul schedule. | Wet-leasing, or hiring aircraft and crew from elsewhere, has allowed BA to operate 99.5% of its flights during the recent action. Nine Qatar Airways planes, otherwise grounded by sanctions brought by neighbouring countries in the Gulf, have been flying a chunk of BA’s short-haul schedule. |
| The airline refuses to discuss costs, instead focusing on what it says is the most important thing: that every passenger will get to their destination during the strikes. Walsh, who has faced down strikes at numerous airlines, said earlier this year that the strike was having “no impact at all”, although he conceded that BA’s costs might run to a few million pounds. He said there are no shortage of recruits; BA puts the number of job applications at 17,000 this year. | The airline refuses to discuss costs, instead focusing on what it says is the most important thing: that every passenger will get to their destination during the strikes. Walsh, who has faced down strikes at numerous airlines, said earlier this year that the strike was having “no impact at all”, although he conceded that BA’s costs might run to a few million pounds. He said there are no shortage of recruits; BA puts the number of job applications at 17,000 this year. |
| Compared to the damage recently caused by one technician accidentally pulling the power in BA’s computer nerve centre, which led to widespread cancellations and headline news, the strike is having relatively little immediate impact. But City analysts have expressed concern about the reputational damage. | Compared to the damage recently caused by one technician accidentally pulling the power in BA’s computer nerve centre, which led to widespread cancellations and headline news, the strike is having relatively little immediate impact. But City analysts have expressed concern about the reputational damage. |
| BA insists that customer service has been unaffected, yet internal emails from managers admit that flights have operated with fewer crew than usual. Some customers who did find themselves on Qatar’s planes have enthused about the apparent upgrade: more comfortable cabins and the return of complimentary refreshments recently axed by BA. | BA insists that customer service has been unaffected, yet internal emails from managers admit that flights have operated with fewer crew than usual. Some customers who did find themselves on Qatar’s planes have enthused about the apparent upgrade: more comfortable cabins and the return of complimentary refreshments recently axed by BA. |
| For now, there’s little prospect of an immediate resolution to the dispute: no talks are likely, and those who have gone on strike for better pay have been infuriated by BA’s financial recriminations. Among the crew, Alex’s feeling is commonly echoed: “People say, why don’t you quit and get a better-paid job? But I love the job. I just want a living wage.” | For now, there’s little prospect of an immediate resolution to the dispute: no talks are likely, and those who have gone on strike for better pay have been infuriated by BA’s financial recriminations. Among the crew, Alex’s feeling is commonly echoed: “People say, why don’t you quit and get a better-paid job? But I love the job. I just want a living wage.” |
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