Idiots (not) At Work...

[Amadeus]

In spite of being politically to the right of Attila the Hun I take the view that there are times when strikes are entirely the right course of action to take.

 

Looking at the background to this dispute I believe that the union are 100% correct in their actions. The workforce have been treated abominably

 

It’s not the strikers who in this particular dispute should carry the can it’s the employers.  Their actions have been utterly disgusting.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The problem is that this strike was not authorized by the union - if it was, then the whole thing would be a different matter..

 

I'm pretty sure the mear threat of strike action during this time of the year would have solved the main issues and raised enough awareness - at least it would have given BA a chance to intervene.

 

But the people simply walked out and this was entirely the wrong course of action to take - the union has lost credibility (not having their members under control), BA has lost money (and will probably make that up by cutting jobs again) and the employees at Gate Gourmet won't be better off after this, as law suits against them are pretty much a certainty and the company may well pack in their UK operations after this - from the Beep website:

 

Gate insists it has to change outdated working practices and cut costs at its UK operations in the face of huge losses.

 

Although enjoying a turnover of 2.4bn Swiss francs (£1bn; $2bn) in 2004, the company hasn't actually made a profit since 2000, and revenues have fallen 35% as the airlines have continued to tighten their belts post 11 September 2001.

 

Its managing director Eric Born said Gate had tried for months to try and find a consensual deal with unions and staff at Heathrow "to resolve the financial crisis and secure the future of the company".

[Lonan3]

It needs to be noted that company involved in the dispute are not just trying heavy-handed tactics in the UK.

 

In the US, Blake Harwell, a spokesman for Unite Here, one union heading the negotiations alongside the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said yesterday: "There is no middle ground. The company has insisted upon major concessions that hurt every economic part of the contract substantially. We realise the state of the industry, but the company is simply not being reasonable."

The cuts offered by the company, he added, were not sustainable for its workers on their $11 (£6.20) an hour average wages.

 

While the full story in the UK seems to be getting lost in the (quite reasonable) waves of sympathy for the travelling public

 

For the sacked workers of Gate Gourmet, 70% of whom are Asian women, the dispute that saw them dismissed and brought British Airways to its knees, if only for a day, is partly about working conditions. But to a remarkable degree it is about their culture, their communities and what they perceive to be a lack of respect.

They do repetitive jobs for an average of £6.20 an hour. This year they had accepted there would be no Christmas bonus or annual pay rise on the basis that they had jobs in a troubled, cash strapped industry. But now they do not have jobs at all.

Tara Shah, 39 and her husband Kiran both worked at Gate Gourmet. She was one of those sacked by megaphone. Kiran was off sick for a day so he was sacked by letter. "Many husbands and wives have been sacked," she said. "We don't know what we are going to do. We have four children and a mortgage to pay. The way we have been treated is shocking."

"They wanted to reduce our pay. The drivers would go from £8 an hour to £6.35 and overtime would go to a flat rate. They wanted five days' sick pay instead of 25. Six or seven months ago they said they needed 675 redundancies but then they sought to bring in the seasonal staff.

"The new managers are from Germany and they want us to work in a way they are accustomed to. The managers used to understand their workforce but not anymore."

Source: Guardian 13-08-2005

[Pat Ayres]

So an employer is set on lowering costs by reducing wages and increasing hours, he sets up another company, of which he is the sole director, to recruit temporary workers to the airline catering business, shortly afterwards sacks all his workers because they complain about temps working for less money and forcing down their own wages.

All workers walk out in discust, he sacks them and employs temps from another company, his own.

The union gets stroppey and sympathy strikes ensue.

I do have some sympathy for the holidaymakers and they should sue BA to the end of the earth.

BA knew all about this tactic by the firm in question and supported it in the interest of "securing supply of quality food".

I, for one, am not in the least suprised by this turn of events. I hope the unions win their case and the firm are forced to re-employ the permanent workers.

Maybe BA should be more careful about who they get into bed with.

[ans]

Maybe BA should be more careful about who they get into bed with.

 

Maybe BA's customers should be more careful about who they book with.

 

BA will experience a massive downturn in bookings as confidence in them is low. Thus forcing redundancies, downsizing and no bonuses. Way to put yourself out of a job guys.

[Mission]

Someone explain to the German about the British strike culture.

 

It's why you lot still make cars and we don't (well, actually that's not quite true, we just make them for other people now).

 

British Leyland, pfft more like British layabout land!

[Amadeus]

Someone explain to the German about the British strike culture.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Would that be just me or all of us?

 

But looking at the fact that the British seem to be quite strike happy, I can see why this doesn't work out - I wish we would get of the couch quicker at times, but that's never gonna happen: We rather moan a bit and get on with things...

 

And if we do strike, then we usually stick to the correct way of doing so - as Mission said: Some people will be out of a job there soon and the whole thing was no good to anyone.

[Mission]

Would that be just me or all of us?

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I don't know, are you the only German on the forum or are there more of you?

 

If so, are they all just passing through or is this an invasion / occupation?

 

[Amadeus]

Would that be just me or all of us?

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I don't know, are you the only German on the forum or are there more of you?

 

If so, are they all just passing through or is this an invasion / occupation?

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I suspected "Bieryes" to be German - not sure, though..

 

Passing through? Don't think so! 5 years on the 27th of this month! We got away from the "full-on invasion" approach (didn't seem to work in the past) and are now employing a rather subtle "infiltration over time"..

 

Failing that, we can still order one of these babies - 1 Million rounds a minute, that should do the trick...

 

Isle of German - I like the name already

[Mission]

THIS IS WHAT WE NEED IN IRAQ

 

When we exercise our RIGHT TO BARE ARMS, we don't play!!

 

I'm guessing he/she is American then.

[Gladys]

Mission, not sure I understand the quote - is it about sunbathing or making war?

[La_Dolce_Vita]

This seems ridiculous to me. Why does it matter if the strike is legal or not. Sod the holiday makers. I would agree it can't be nice having to wait around the airport when you could be flying away to your holiday destination but it isn't the point. Those people are lucky enough they can jetset to other countries.

 

Those people who are striking are doing it for fun and nor are those who are supporting them. It is a good thing those people went on strike. That company has the money, they can afford to treat their staff better - end of story. The fact that it is illegal to secondary picket is beside the point. Just because Thatcher made it illegal doesn't mean the action is wrong. I think it quite sad how anyone could deride the actions of these people.

[theintelligentthug]

..

[theintelligentthug]

Someone explain to the German about the British strike culture.

 

It's why you lot still make cars and we don't (well, actually that's not quite true, we just make them for other people now).

 

British Leyland, pfft more like British layabout land!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

im from leyland, and i heartily agree.

[ButterflyMaiden]

Someone explain to the German about the British strike culture.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Im not so sure the British resort to strike action as much as other European countries do. Strikes Statistics

The UK has ratified ILO conventions which underpin basic rights such as the right to freedom of association, the right to organise and the right to strike. OK, it is true that some of these rights have been compromised slightly by various pieces of legislation, however, the whole ILO package is essentially delivered undamaged to British workers. In my humble opinion, the British workforce executes those rights responsibly and there is no evidence to support the notion of a strike culture. Given the statistics, it would be difficult to argue otherwise !

[La_Dolce_Vita]

Why do people have the negative view of strike action in the first place?

I don't really understand it.

 

Considering most British workers are in my opinion exploited enough, when the big companies are making huge profits I find it saddening that more strikes aren't taking place or effective ways found to remedy such exploitation. If strikes have are effective to any extent then I why not strike.

 

I don't think striking has much to do with the fact that there are no British owned car producing businesses anymore. Why does it matter anywhere if something is British made other than for silly nationalistic reasons. Thousands of British workers are employed in the car production business in the UK, might not be a British owned company, but that isn't important I think.