(no subject)

[emony]

BA workers at Heathrow on a wildcat strike in sympathy with colleagues who were sacked, without notice, from the BA food provision sub contrator, Gate Gourmet.

My dad works for BA. Not that long ago, post 9/11 when the airline industry was going through a very rough patch, he was on a 4-day week and looking at the very real possibility of having to take redundancy because the company couldn't afford to keep everyone on. He stuck with them though, and he's still there now. So don't tell me that BA workers aren't loyal to their company just because they believe in their rights as workers. Being unionised doesn't make you a bad, disloyal or troublesome worker. It just means that you believe in something. And unless you're a capitalist pig, that's a good thing.

Comments

[cedara]

Being unionised doesn't make you a bad, disloyal or troublesome worker.

Very true.
*is union member*

[emony.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, after that slighty fiery statement, that I am not unionised myself. I probably ought to be, just in case I get sacked for.. well, slacking off most likely, or just being a bit crap. Heh. I don't think anyone here is unionised. We're only a small company, after all. When I can though, I will.

[kangaruth.livejournal.com]

'm not saying there's anything wrong with belonging to a union, or that workers don't have rights, but this strike wasn't union-endorsed (although the unions are involved now).

The strikes last time around were justified because the union voted, and gave ordinary people plenty of (or at least some) notice in order to change their plans. This strike is causing chaos for ordinary people, who are not responsible for any of the job losses, which lessens the strikers' entitlement to public sympathy, in my view.

The unions are only involved, and sympathy strikes taking place, because everyone who missed the shift on Wednesday were sacked, including people on holiday, sick-leave and maternity leave.

I also heard that the original staff redundancies were not full time staff but were on seasonal contracts which were being terminated early, and replaced with even shorter temporary contracts. (I don't know how true that is)