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I am agreeing with Kermit on this… Gate Gourmet are in serious financial trouble, and while I don’t necessarily agree with how they have gone about things… (like sacking 500 staff without any notice, that seems a bit off), going on strike is just going to jeopardize their entire busines. If I was in charge of BA I would be seriously pondering whether to change their catering supplier. And then all the Gate Gourmet staff would be screwed. Although they won’t because then all their staff will go on strike, and so on.
On a personal aside, I travel quite frequently by plane, often by BA. I am amongst those regular travellers that BA needs to keep hold of. And if these strikes keep happening I may well decide to not trust BA any more, just in case they go on strike again, which they seems to be becoming a regular occurence. If too many of us travellers do that, then BA will be in trouble. And Gate Gourmet won’t have anyone to supply. An no one will have a job.
"Bad management"
The managers are responsible for manipulating their staff into doing a good days work etc. they failed and this almighty fuck up has followed.
Theres obviously been some sort of argy bargy and some halfwit "in charge" has decided to act this way. Didn't really work, did it?
When you have a union that will walk out at the drop of a het, you need to be a bit more cautious then this.
I would just like to point out again that the strike was legal.
It's also a bit dumb to say that BA, as the largest customer, have no power over Gate gourmet. The head of BA will have been straight on the blower and if he wasn't he needs sacking for incompetence.
What a shame that we aren't talking about individuals names, I hate the fact that people can hide behind the fiction of a company when they do things like this.
If only workers stuck for each other like this everywhere, people would have much better working conditions and fewer company CEOs would take the piss.
No, we'd have the three-day week, the telly going off at 10pm, and Trade Union leaders taking the piss.
Which, correct me if I am wrong, is exactly what happened last time.
Which, correct me if I'm wrong, is why Thatcher was so popular with the electorate.
If someone can explain to me how taking the day off because someone else got fired for doing the same thing helps my working conditions, then I'd be glad to hear it.
Why hasn't it happened already in industries where the unions are strong?
I think most people are quite realistic regarding the economy and working conditions. They know 3-day weeks and the assorted chaos that ensued in the 70s is not a realistic option.
But that's not to say they should keep quiet and lower their trousers in front of their employers even when these decide to act like cunts- as the bosses of Gate Gourmet have just done.
And as for your last point, it is not to help your working conditions. It's to help the working conditions (or rather, to save the jobs) of Gate Gourmet staff. Because as its biggest and most important client, BA can put a lot of pressure on Gate Gourmet, believe me.
As said before this is unfair on BA. But as Blagsta said, try to look at the bigger picture. There is a lot at stake here, and Gate Gourmet staff need all the help they can get if they're to save their jobs.
I personally salute everyone who's walked out, and hope they continue for as long as necessary until Gate Gourmet bosses stop being cunts.
BA had to fly without food. That was enough to make BA reconsider who they use. Fair enough. Quite reasonable.
So why did the lazy BA staff walk out? What do they achieve?
Why should Qantas, Finnair and Sri Lankan Airways all suffer for something that they have even less control over than BA do?
Why should 70,000 people have to sleep on airport floors because the BA staff felt like taking the day off?
That's the travel plans of over 70,000 people knackered. 70,000 holidays ruined. People have missed their children's weddings because of it. The British Airways staff who have walked out should be ashamed of themselves. Even more importantly, the compensation BA has to pay should come directly from the paypackets of those who walked out.
And again, what the "lazy" BA staff is trying to achieve is for BA to flex its muscle and tell Gate Gourmet 'oi- get it fucking sorted'. I'd have thought the aim of the walk-out was clear. And chances are it will play a major part in the resolution of the dispute as well.
If you really think BA staff walked out because of "laziness" I don't think you have much of an idea of what's going on...
Bafflingly ignorant of how people work.
You’re obviously completely ignorant of the legislation passed by Thatcher in the 80’s. :rolleyes: You might not agree with the law but as it stands they've broken it. So stop whining, you're wrong.
Your obviously ignorant of the legislation passed at a certain field a long time ago.
Anyone been taken to court?
Anyone been found guilty of anything?
So, no law has been broken yet.
You are a court now? Sorry judge judy.
Oh, and expressions of fact aren't whining, so stop whining.
And the fact its a nice day in August has nothing to do with it, of course.
I'm sure the fact that BA had to fly long-haul with no catering available was an incentive for them to sort it. That was reasonable. It was proving a point. It was enough.
I'm not sure what you mean by "sort it" though. Gate Gourmet are in dire financial straits apparently. BA withdrawing from the contract would cause them to fold. And the 500 people would be out of a job. Er.
Ruining the holidays and weddings and businesses of 70,000 people is not reasonable.
And to be honest I find insinuations that BA staff went on strike to enjoy a summer day off patronising and insulting- even though I have no association whatsoever with them.
I would expect that kind of thinking from ultra right wing Thatcherity city boys or similar clueless folk, not from normal working class people. It appears to me a number of you guys are barking up the wrong tree.
i say fuck BA's profits, there are more important things in this world, like people..........the right to a decent standard of living and quality of life, which is being gradually eroded around us by corporate greed........so good on BA staff, I don't think they're being lazy, like blagsta said it's called solidarity, and there's not enough of it these days.
Did BA do that?
Did Qantas, Air Sri Lanka or Finnair do that.
So why are BA's ground staff on strike? Surely it's not to scrounge a day off work?
Not as insulting as dumping 70,000 people on their arse because they couldn't be arsed going to work.
But that's the point.
A justified strike is justified, and I would support one. I support the Gate Gourmet staff, although I think they were misguided in doing the exact thing the company wanted them to do. A work-to-rule or go-slow would ahve been far more effective, and not given the company a way to fire them and save the redundancy money.
I don't support the BA staff going on strike because they have no justification for it. Last summer they had some justification- although I still think that the fact it was August then was a pertinent point- but this time around they have absolutely none.
Some vague argument of "solidarity" doesn't cut the mustard, I'm afraid.
Like your daughter's wedding?
One person had to miss it because of the BA staff's disgraceful action.
that's unfortunate, but you have to see the bigger picture here........do you honestly think the BA staff are being lazy? what's given you that impression?......
What’s given that impression? I dunno, taking a day off. Striking over a matter that has nothing to do with their employer…
If BA staff went on strike over something BA had done their position would be justifiable. I probably wouldn’t agree with it though as just about any intelligent person is capable of working out that going on strike doesn’t usually solve much.
To me this strike simply seems to be a few staff at BA taking the day off because they’re a bit pissed off that their mates at another company seem to have got a bit of a raw deal. Although given that Gate Gourmet is in massive debt the company probably had little choice. They haven’t gone about it in the right way though.
BA should offer all the workers on strike a simple choice. Return to work immediately and pay some form of token compensation for the damage illegally inflicted or get the sack.
I do.
BA staff have taken a day off because of something that had nothing to do with them.
Because of it people have missed their daughter's wedding. They have missed once-in-a-lifetime holidays. 70,000 people have had their travel plans destroyed.
But that's only unfortunate compared to a few people who have lost what is a menial job anyway.
Yes, I do.
It's the middle of August, and its the school holidays.
I'd cheer them if they did though.
I doubt they’ll get the sack. If it was just a few maybe. They won’t though as it would cost BA more to get loads of new people and train them. I also doubt BA has the guts to stand up to the unions.
Shame really as they deserve the sack and if BA took a tough line in the long term it would make this kind of thing less common.
I think it’s really unfair though that all those people who’s holidays have been ruined won’t get extra holiday at work. I mean all these poor people have used up their 4 weeks holiday and spent a chunk of it at the airport and not got the hard-earned holiday they were looking for. I doubt their employers will give them additional paid holiday to make up for the time they’ve wasted at the airport. Does anyone else agree with me? Why don’t we have a sympathy strike? I mean it’s nothing to do with our employers, they haven’t done anything but c’mon anyone up for it? Show some solidarity.
It appears if you have a business where theres no possibility of out sourcing your job abroad, then the unions will screw the company over for what they can get this is definatly whats happening with the London underground drivers.
It strikes me its not unlike companies screwing as much money out of people as they can when theyve got a captive market or monopoly, or screwing their staff by paying them as little as possible,
And hopefully their bosses would be put against a wall.
As should the bosses of Gate Gourmet.
And Kermit, this really is about helping those who otherwise have no hope. No one is saying it's BA's fault or its passengers. But if BA's staff weren't doing this, then what's for sure is that those people's jobs were lost for sure.
And frankly, harsh and unfair as it is on someone missing their child's wedding, the livelihoods of hundreds of families should come first. They're not exaclty striking to demand free lollipops. It's much more serious than that.
.. and I'm sure that the bigger picture is a great consolation to the person unable to see their daughter get married. It's not like that is a once in a lifetime experience is it?
Oh, hang on...
Seriously, if the BA staff were looking after their own working conditions then I would have some sympathy. But the are out striking for something which has no relevance to their employment. That they are doing so once again during the summer months just smacks of them using the excuse to get some free time - whether that is actually the case or not.
Out of interest, does anyone know how many of the BA staff are on the picket and how many have stayed at home?
Does anyone know how many times in recent years that the BA staff have taken strike action during anyother period of the year? If so, when?
I cannot believe that an intelligent person like yourself supports a logic that is so stupid and unreasonable.
Would you support a British general strike in support for mistreated and underpaid African farmers? Or would you go on strike in sympathy for the Gate Gourmet workers? Whatever company you work for is I presume totally separate to Gate Gourmet like BA – so are you going on strike in sympathy? I don’t see any real difference…