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British Airways announces more upcoming strike dates
British Airways just can't catch a break - the airline is still recovering from the massive disruptions caused by the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, and now they will have to deal with four different five-day strikes. The first of the strikes will take place on May 18, followed by May 24, May 30 and June 5.
Unite, the union behind the strike said that 81% of cabin crew voted in favor of the strike, which will no doubt hurt passengers more than it'll hurt the airline.
During the last strike, British Airways retaliated against striking cabin crew by removing their free flight perks, with that threat looming, I'm surprised so many union members were in favor of this strike - but I'm guessing they assume the union will fight to get those rights restored.
British Airways has posted a brief statement on their web site, but travelers with flights during the strike will need to keep checking for flight updates. During the last big strike, BA was able to keep a large number of flights in operation - albeit with a reduced schedule.
Sooner or later one of the parties will need to give in to the demands - because 20 days of strikes during the upcoming summer season will cause massive amounts of disruption to an already battered airline.
Filed under: Asia, Europe, North America, United Kingdom, Airlines
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
bosco May 11th 2010 9:02PM
I for one, am goddamned sick and tired of unions. Unions have done more to destroy than help in the past 40-50 yrs. They've destroyed whole economies, not just those of companies out of greed (and they say the capitalists who have had the gumption to create jobs are evil). I'm sorry, but you union people are pathetic and disgusting if you THINK that striking against an airline who is already struggling is a noble and worthy cause and it would be "just desserts" if you lost your jobs altogether.
You people can castigate others for not wanting to pay your exorbitant contracts in the forms of "pay to stay", early retirements, etc...but damn if someone who can't afford it, or needs to make a profit to continue your butts in a job...right?
Disgusting and reprehensible. You want to be noble or deserving..try thinking about someone else for a change and doing your damned job for the betterment of your fellow workers and consumers...not just how you can get your's.
s May 11th 2010 9:20PM
Amen!!!! You have no idea how long i've been wanting some one to say that. I'm getting tired of all these Unions too, especially the teacher unions at my school. All these greedy teachers care about is their paychecks and they disrupt the school day with strikes and sit-in's. You made some excellent points and i'm glad some one finally knows whats right.
Brance May 11th 2010 9:21PM
What a bunch of anti-union BS. Morons like you shouldn't be allowed to even use a computer. If you even had a clue what happened to unions in the last 40 years you might be able to crawl out from behind that double digit IQ you have and understand that unions have been BUSTED by big business for years. They HAVE NO retirements,NO medical , NO nothing! Tell me what union exists today besides the airlines buddy boy!! Have you kept watch in the US lately? When was the last time a US airline struck? Every time one tried to the gov't stepped in and stopped them for the good of the country. They FIRED every controller years ago for trying to get more benefits. All the steel workers unions and retirements are GONE! Auto Workers retirements CHOPPED UP! But in good ole merry England, where all the puppet masters of the US live, a union can still strike. Go figure! Ever heard of the PBGC nitwit?? Look it up. It was organized to protect peoples retirements from people that I'm sure you admire like MADOFF. You are all a bunch of crooks trying to dismantle the middle class with your BS. Drop DEAD!
Den May 11th 2010 9:39PM
Solidarity forever.
Simzee May 12th 2010 1:01PM
Unions sometimes are NOT in the best intrest of everyone. Bosco, What you do not understand is that everything is FOR the employer & NOT the employee. Just remember, ANY employer in the United States can fire you for anything & there's nothing you can do. Unless you can prove it, which most of the times you can not. Another thing.....YOU & others constantly complain about the airlines & their pricing. Why are YOU complaining? Employees going on strike are doing YOU a favor by drounding the plane. YOU are saving a ton of money by NOT having to pay any carry on fees etc. Stop the whining. You are a HIPPOCRIT. (sic)
bev May 12th 2010 7:56AM
Growing up in Massachusetts thats all there was is Unions. Everyone thought it was great having the protection of the Union. Welllllllll, Massachusetts was taught a huge lesson when the companies just got out of that state and moved to the south with no unions. Unions have always been backed by some shady characters and they have caused more problems then they are worth. They usually end up hurting the people they say they are trying to help and the ones that need to be fired are protected.
Bill Peterson May 11th 2010 9:28PM
I'm self-employeed -- I have NO union guarantees -- very simply, if I don't work, I don't eat. In this economy, it is criminal for for these "entitlement" minded BA bastard-employees who are fortunate to even have a job and who should be grateful for the work -- to strike.
To you wimpy whining employees at BA (and all the other bloody airlines) -- don't strike. Take the honrorable way out and quit your jobs. There are 40 lined up for every opening you will leave. Instead of striking, go out and earn a real living by being self-employed and add to the world's economy.
Shame on you ...
paul May 11th 2010 9:30PM
I totally agree Bill..even though I am not self employed there are hundreds of folks that would love my job...so I go to work 5 days a week and enjoy the heck out of it...I am 56 years old and too old to find another job...so I go to work and do a good job and I get a good paycheck and great benifits...better than relying on the government to give me stuff free of charge...
Jan May 11th 2010 10:36PM
To the WORTHLESS UNIONS! Thanks for nothing! The British Government like the America Government has no BALLS, both are nothing but UNION ASSKISSERS. FIRE THEM ALL! With so many that are out of work there should be NO problem replacing all of them...
MIKEY May 11th 2010 10:55PM
AMEN IM SIK AND TIRED OF THE ANTI UNION BULLSHIT ALSO, THEY SIT IN THEIR MANSIONS AND CRY ABOUT THE WORKIN MAN WHOS LOOKIN FOR A RAISE ,GOD FORBID HE HAVE A SON OR DAUGHTER IN COLLEGE,AND IF THE TRUTH BE TOLD THEY INHERITED THE RICHS ANYHOW ,NOT MANY OF EM WORKED FOR IT ,IT COSTS A MIDDLE SIZE COMPANY VERY LITTLE TO BE UNION COMPARED TO THE EXORBANANT PAY THESE CEO'S ARE BEING PAYED TO GOLF AND RIDE THEIR INHERITED COMPANIES INTO THE GROUND ,HAVE YOU SEEN WHAT THE CEO OF GOOGLE IS BEING PAYED LOOK IT UP THE EMPLOYEES WHO ARE THE BACKBONE OF THAT COMPANY ARE BEING TAKEN CARE OF AND IT AINT GOT NO UNION JUST THINK IF THEY WERE UNION THEY WOULD JOIN THE RANKS OF THE UNINSURED AND OR HMO WORLD WE LIVE IN AND THEY WONDER WHY HEALTH CARE PASSED UNLESS IM MISTAKEN THIS COUNTRY WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE BUT THE EXTREMIST AL QUEDA ACTING NUTZO'S ARE INCESTED ON THINKING ITS FOR THE CORPORATION BY THE CORPORATION
Give me a break May 12th 2010 12:14AM
Mikey, what are you, brain dead?? If it were not for the "corporations," you wouldn't even HAVE a J-O-B, much less a union-run one!! You should be totally and utterly ASHAMED OF YOURSELF. There are millions of people out of work right now trying to even GET a job, and all the people like yourself can do is beotch, "I WANT MORE!!!" You DISGUST ME, and your union bosses and socialist governments are the REASON that Greece has fallen apart...soon to be followed by the rest of the EU and then the USA. It's not even about corporate greed at this point; YOUR UNION GREED is MUCH worse! How DARE YOU equate hard-working citizens with Al Quaida when it is your union bosses who threaten people and twist arms...shameful and ingrates you all are. Your unions are SO corrupt that they funded Obama and helped him win so he'll pay them back with "extras" we do not have to give. Now he's trying to pay them back...at OUR expense and the expense of our children, grandchildren and probably GREATgrandchildren!! I say to YOU...HOW MUCH do you have to MAKE (not earn) to be satisfied? You're NEVER satisfied. Trust me, hon, we all go down, you WILL be going down as well...you won't HAVE a job in the end due to your greed. Just watch the Greek unions fighting in the streets and LEARN something for a change before it's too late for you and the rest of the world.
M.A.Korman May 11th 2010 11:18PM
Let them strike. Every employee who strikes should be fired and replaced with new employees who would be grateful to have a job.
Unions that once were necessary are now responsible for encouraging their members to make things miserable for everyone. I hope BA stands its ground and does not give in.
toby May 11th 2010 11:38PM
a non-union buddy of mine works for a major US company that posted a $35 Million profit.... last quarter alone... up 12% from last year. what did he get for being a team player? helping his company make that profit???? he was cut from 40 hours a week to 28 hours......why 28 hours?? because now his company doesn't have to provide any medical or dental benefits!!! (he has a wife and 3 small kids). with union protection, this would not have happened......the people who have posted anti - union comments here sure are trusting that the same wont happen to them one day..... "they should be glad they have a job"... the ironic thing is that is EXACTLY what they are trying to protect......union contracts aren't all about hourly rate hikes, folks. they are about PROTECTING YOUR JOBS.....i.e., not sending them overseas, being fired because your boss doesn't like you.....etc...WAKE UP !! its called 'corperate greed' and it is HUNGRY.............
Billy May 12th 2010 12:32AM
Here is the thing about "let them strike", "others will take their jobs and be grateful". This is never the case. Others may take the job but will soon come to the same conclusion the union employees came to. They will want more and management will give them less. But now, with no union, they will have to stand up for themselves. No collective bargaining, no organized group to counter managements greed. They will be picked off, one by one, with no rights. Strikes are often the result of bad management more than anything else.
rrbsr May 12th 2010 12:16AM
I have seen this (good and bad from both sides). I was protected in a union, in a Federal Agency... the union primarily fought for workers who had drug or alcohol problems, those who could not show up to work, or in general, workers who were not worth keeping. From the management side, the union was nothing more than a joke... yes, it kept me well paid, but it also kept a workforce of over one million employees (all making over 50K per year) ;with a minimum of 10 per cent not worth keeping. The time for unions was in the 20's, 30's, 40's and up to the 70's... oh, all of our union presidents were fired for theft... as was most of our managers.
JB May 12th 2010 1:03AM
Organize fellow workers and fight for liberty even if it destroys the company you work for or the industry you are in. I am one of those college wimps you hate who is an overnight success. The problem is it took me 35 years of working 60 or 70 hours a week with no contract and no strikes I was too damn busy.
Gary May 12th 2010 10:18AM
"IF THE TRUTH BE TOLD THEY INHERITED THE RICHS ANYHOW".......Statistically, that isn't true and hasn't been for a great while. Most rich families squander their wealth in a couple of generations unless it's locked up in trusts - which means they are not the people you are talking about. Your problem is that you don't realize that labor is a part of the production process. You can't just dictate wages any more than you can dictate how much an airline is going to pay for fuel. Striking a striken industry is lunacy - and the union way. Put the knife in when they are most vulnerable. So, go ahead and love unions - when the airlines go under, you'll have no job. Then you can go on the dole or get a job with the government - until the country goes under from too many mouths and too few farmers.
norm May 12th 2010 5:54AM
Unions were great years ago but have grown into a "hell with everyone but union". They will be a part of history that destroys the USA if not checked. If they strike, fire evryone of them and hire someone that wants to work. Ask people in washington state what the union is doing to Boeing.
joe schmoe May 12th 2010 6:33AM
I 've been an aircraft technician for the past 21 years for one of the legacy carriers,and management has always picked on the common workers,I've had pay cut after pay cut,lost pension,while management received bonus after bonuses. i have seen my co-workers,that were hard working with families,laid off several times,bumped to other cities and to graveyard shifts,and have gone through divorces because of this.This happened even during the good times of the economy. They have taken advantage of the working class forever,and they are made to look like the bad guys. It is easy to judge people when you are not in their shoes. So if you have never worked in the airline industry,I suggest you keep your negative comments to yourself,because you just don't know how bad they've been treating us all this time. Not just recently,it's been an ongoing way of life.
MIKEY May 12th 2010 10:36AM
GIVE ME A BREAK YOU ARE JUST AS DUMB AS A BUSH AND CHENEY ADMINASTRATION YOU PROBABLY INHERITED YOURS AS WELL,YOU AND THE REST OF THE RETARDS BELIEVE WHAT YOU PREACH AND CLOSE YOUR EYES TALK ABOUT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK YOU TELL THE UNIONS TO LEAVE CORPORATIONS ALONE THAT NO ONE SHOULD BE TELLING THE CORPORATIONS WHAT TO DO AND YET BUSH AND CHENEY OUT A CIA AGENT ,BLOW UP A COUNTRY WHO HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 911 AND THATS FINE ,THEY GO IN AND TELL THEM HOW THEY WANT THEM TO RUN THEIR OWN COUNTRY YOU AND THE REST OF THE CORPORATE ASSHOLES ARE NUTZO AL QUEDA RETARDS YOU LOST YOU MIND ALL IN THE NAME OF LIES LIES AND MORE LIES IF THEIR LIPS ARE MOVING THEY ARE LIEYING,YOU NEED TO ACTUALY CHECK THINGS OUT AND NOT STARE AT FOX NEWS LIKE ITS THE GOSPEL, REMEMBER VERY VIVADLY PEOPLE OF YOUR NATURE IN THE UNION WORKFORCE MOST OF EM WERE UNCONTROLABLE AND GOT IN TROUBLE ,GOT FIRED AND BLAMED IT ON THE UNION WHEN IT WAS THE COMPANY WHO FIRED YOU,AND FOR GOOD REASON YOUR NO BETTER THAN AL QUEDA WITH YOUR MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY ATITUDE THE SAME OLD STORY NOT ENOUGH BRAINS TO PROCESS THAT MUCH INFO YOU LISTEN TO THE FIRST TEN WORDS GET MAD AND START YELLING WHEN YOU NEVER HEARD THE WHOLE STORY