British Airways Strike 2

In addition to previous comments I have made I now realise how deceptive the airline are being about he strike's success or lack of it.

They are telling everyone how the percentage of flights still leaving is high. What the observer is not being told directly is that BA are spending huge amounts drafting in extra aircraft hired from an airline that specialises in hire support. These aircraft (all but one are Boeings and old ones at that) are taking off nearly empty. This is how you can say you have a high percentage of flights still leaving. What you cannot say is that there is a high percentage of passengers aboard them because there is not!

BA have been desperate to save money and get back in the black. Attempting to break this strike by hiring in aircraft complete with pilots and cabin crew is financial lunacy. The longer this situation continues unresolved the worse it will be for this supposed "great company". The whole object BA had for reducing staffing levels was to save cash and this method will take them the wrong way.

The attitude of Willie Walsh in divesting the strikers of their perks which appear to be extremely low costs flights all over the world is peevish and childish. Mind you, there never was a case for such a giveaway perk in the first place! It is little wonder they have cash flow difficulties. Some time back, in order to save money, Willie Walsh and other top earners said they would work free of pay for a month and asked other staff to join them. This was a classic case of the rich man calling on his servants to share nothing whilst he waits to enjoy plenty later! What a nutter!

British Airways Strike

Not surprisingly, the Tories are trying to take advantage of their Labour enemies by saying the strike is weakening the government prior to an election. Had they been in power the position would not have been different. The issue surrounding this industrial action is historic and could have arisen at any time. The issue is that British Airways has, for many years, been a bullying employer. The pressure has now blown and we have strife. As a former branch secretary of a union (now in retirement) I can still spot a bad employer from a mile away.

Good relations between employers and their workforce always keep strife at bay. At the negotiating table no employer worth their salt tries to force a trade union into a corner or to wipe the floor in those negotiations. The only good outcome is one where there is something gained by both sides. Those who teach industrial relations are not cloistered academics with no view of the real world. They know the value of creating and maintaining good employer/employee relations. Their students are advised that this is the only way that produces true settlements.

As for Willie Walsh defending himself by saying his company have been negotiating for months and he personally has spent time at the TUC in talks, this is just a smoke screen. There is no justification in entering talks and steadily offering packages which are less than the previous offer. This shows the madness of what he is trying to do.

Going back to the days of Lord King, British Airways have sucked the life out of cabin crew workers in their airline. They have put profits first and last on their agenda and raised two fingers to their staff. Walsh has now removed the perks from those who have gone on strike this time. This will be remembered for a long time and the sourness will not go away. There will be a dichotomy between strikers and those who have worked through the action that will see bitterness for years to come. No good company needs this background to daily activity in the workplace.

There will be discomfort between cabin crew which will give rise to further strife in the future. The stupid thing, of course, is that this will have an effect on profits which Walsh and co are desperate to preserve.

In other words, this is a no-win scenario, and that is bad for all. Things will get worse and worse in a financial climate where airlines are struggling. The competitors will be rubbing their hands together and relishing the future as they go head to head with British Airways.

Willie, you are suicidal!

ITV is down the tube!

Over the years I have been an ITV viewer less and less. In recent days they have axed the programmes that are worth watching. The final two nails in their coffin are "Kingdom" and "The Bill".

Stephen Fry as Peter Kingdom brought the most wonderful "feel good" feeling to viewers and his young assistant provided the freshest comedy I have seen in a long time. Hermione Norris acted out the most amazing comedy depressant whilst Tony Slattery made the brain spin with his multitude of legal challenges that actually won through. Celia Imrie was just lovely as she and her son filled equally interesting and entertaining roles. CHOP!!!

Today came the final insult to intelligent viewers. The Bill is to go in the autumn. This is a programme that has provided an amazing variety of scenarios over a long period. We have grown to almost become family to both characters and actors involved in this first rate programme. We have lived and died with its many twists and turns. ITV has now succumbed to the appetite of the brain dead with programme after programme of reality disinterest. I simply ask the world of TV to seriously considering buying the programme "The Bill" and running with it for many years more. It will be watched! As for the rest of the soaps and reality dung let the brain dead watch ITV. Not me!!!