I agree with Interflug here…its both a economic and a power battle, but in what proportion I do not know, however, I would guess its slightly more towards an economic one, simply because there are so many airlines out there and they all do the same thing, at the end of the day it all comes down to the service that they provide to their customers, and in order to be the best, you need the best people.

Some on here seem to suggest that all those who go on strike should be sacked immediately and others given their jobs, but I believe this is going from one extreme to another, and the end result will be that service standards will decline, customers will choose not fly with them and the financial problems will only get worse.

Quite simply, BA were too slow to react to the changes in the market when low-cost carriers began to have an impact, and when it came to making the changes it felt it needed, I strongly believe that WW’s bullish, combative, anti-Union style approach to things was a big mistake and he ultimately rubbed alot of people’s backs up the wrong way, creating a lot of angst. And instead of choosing to deal with things before the first wave of strikes set-in, he choose to take it even further by taking the travel perks away. Angst increased.

Now, interestingly I happen to attend a business development workshop in Kent yesterday, and the keynote speaker delivered a lecture about Apple, the company that does all things iPod, iPhone, etc., and through this lecture I/we learnt about Apple’s infamously secret corporate culture, and one of the main things that Apple apparently makes an huge emphasis on is this…

“Do not tell your staff what to do, instead make them better at doing what they do!”

I can’t help but feel/think that maybe BA needs a bit of an internal culture change and that it should really look to adopt this and many of the other principles that Apple has applied to itself (I’m not going to list them all, as I had to pay for the event!), and hopefully this will begin to help restore the relationship between the staff and management, but they really need to do it pretty quickly before its too late.

Now, before anyone comes on here and poo-poo’s this idea, I’d like to remind you that Apple is one of the fastest growing and well respected companies around, and also one of the most desired companies that people want to work for, and they say that their success comes down to the people that work for them.

I’d rather edit my posts to show only figures that have been directly quoted from sources that I provide in my original post, and am not reminded to have to provide one?

The reason for editing my post was because I was, and still am, confused about where the 14,000 figure came from; no mention of it in the source you provided, thats all?

And for the second time in a row (see #59 for your first!) you have failed to provide a/the link to the source for your figures, care to provide one to back up what you say?

And, just to be clear, its not me that has got my sums wrong…I am only quoting what has been provided in the links I have given.:rolleyes:

The debate still rumbles on…

I thought I would just re-open this thread again, seeing as we’re talking about the same thing as before and its still an “on-going” debate to a certain extent…no sense in opening another new thread really!

So, the latest ballot result released this afternoon shows a result of 8-1 in favour of more strike action…so it is clear that there is still something going on that is a cause for concern!

Of course, those people on here who seem to think that this is simply about a bunch of moaning, ungreatful and overpaid waiters/waitresses who just serve food and drinks onboard an aircraft, will naturally argue that it is probably the employees/unions fault because they have simply not backed down and agreed to BA’s demands, but I think we’ve all pretty much exhausted the arguments over this time and time again, so I’ll save my time and energy this time round.

Dates of possible strike action have not yet been announced, but could potentially be set around the date of the Royal Wedding, but lets just hope that the current talks that are taking place between both parties comes to fruition so that we can finally put an end to all this misery for BA, its crews, but most importantly the customers that would no doubt be ultimately affected if/when any strike goes ahead!

Sources: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/BA-Cabin-Crew-Vote-For-More-Strikes-Following-Unite-Vote-Industrial-Action-Could-Hit-Royal-Wedding/Article/201103415961648?lpos=Business_Second_Home_Page_Article_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15961648_BA_Cabin_Crew_Vote_For_More_Strikes_Following_Unite_Vote%3A_Industrial_Action_Could_Hit_Royal_Wedding & http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1146984.php?mpnlog=1