tolf Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Disgusting, totally disgusting. A strike on the eve of the Olympics is bang out of order. If those staff dont want to work, and actually do their jobs, then we should sack them and employ people who actually want to work. Doesnt matter if they are from UK or eastern europe. The trouble is that the BA know they have the govt. over a barrel and if they shout / threaten loud enough, then they seem to get what they want. Yet another screw up which makes the UK look stupid and un-coordinated. If i were the home secretary, i'd show them a different barrel to look down! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreigM Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 or play their game until after the olympics, then **** them........I feel (hope) this will apply - to the bus and tube drivers also Did you see that it was a 57% vote in favour of the strike, and a 20% turnout, so in effect only just over 10% of the staff actually voted for a strike.....its about time there was a law demanding a 70% turnout or the vote is invalid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikef Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 + 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff oakley Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 What ever the unions say this is just extortion. Even though I think the Olympics is a waste of time and money this sort of action is straight out of the 70's. I doubt if labour was in power it would be happening but there we are. Unfortunately you cannot sack them and as you say the turnout is rubbish. What must the rest of the world must be thinking about us at the moment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooch Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 When I become President, Serwotka will be first against the wall....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Just to put a different view. If you had genuine concerns about the way your pay and conditions were being eroded and had been trying to talk to your employer for 18 months would you take this opportunity to force the issue. The union have said that if the government will start talks they will call off the strike. This is not about pay. Would you want the security of the country left to private companies - like G4S? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu999 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Just to put a different view. If you had genuine concerns about the way your pay and conditions were being eroded and had been trying to talk to your employer for 18 months would you take this opportunity to force the issue. The union have said that if the government will start talks they will call off the strike. This is not about pay. Would you want the security of the country left to private companies - like G4S? Good points made Norm, ones that the Media would rather skip over to get to the 'juicy' bits... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2rrr Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 The unions and the employers should have a proper process for these discusions, it used to be fairly well laid out but I suspect with the demise of trade unions the employers are using every trick in the book to delay the discussion, to force the issue. It is an absolute disgrace that it has been allowed to deteriorate to this degree but whose actual fault is it, some chinless in Whitehall no doubt. You know the guy with the protected pension for life and a huge salary. The haves and the have nots, the divide widens. Bit like milk prices, why does some numbnuts not just fix the price relative to costs so that the farmers get enough but not too much and the retailers profits are regulated. It seems that as long as the bankers and city is protected thats all that matters in this A*** about face country at the moment. Is that called nationalisation, maybe so but about time somethings were protected from the profiteers. Why are we spending 100 million each on foreign bl**dy jump jets, you known the ones we invented goodness me, paying some other country to have their own people employed whilst ours are laid off. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mat Jackson Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Just to put a different view. If you had genuine concerns about the way your pay and conditions were being eroded and had been trying to talk to your employer for 18 months would you take this opportunity to force the issue. The union have said that if the government will start talks they will call off the strike. This is not about pay. Would you want the security of the country left to private companies - like G4S? Norm, If this was the case I would look for a job elsewhere.... I agree that standing up for your rights when being exploited is the right thing to do, but in this day and age in our country there is very little exploitation. You do a job for an agreed package - if you no longer like that package or it changes then you move to another job. If you cannot find another job than it might highlight the package you have isn`t that bad..... I understand the changes to public sector workers pensions pretty well, and whilst I agree they are not quite as good as previous pensions they are still very competetive - not exploitation in the slightest... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Mat, Sorry I can't agree. An occupational pension is part of the salary package. If a contract was entered into when you took the job it should be not be arbitrarily changed. But this is not only about pensions. The union says that job cuts are going to put security at border checkpoints at risk. The government didn't deny this. The union says that government plans are to privatise some of the border control jobs. The government didn't deny this. We had a very good immigration service and border control until the politicians (Labour in this case) decided to change it all. The union claim they have been trying to enter into discussions for 18 months and have got nowhere. The government didn't deny this. The union said it will call off the strike if the government agree to discussions. The government didn't deny this. However they didn't say they would arrange for talks either. The BBC spoke to Serwotka, among other things he said the disruption shouldn't affect the games as it was before they started. I nearly choked on my red wine! The government minister then spent over half his allotted time on this stupid claim. He did not address any other issue raised. Just think of some of the things that our politicians have changed in then past. Privatising pensions Easing bank controls Easing advertising by the legal profession To name but 3. Instead of knee jerk reactions to the nasty unions maybe we should listen to what they're saying and avoid another disaster in 5-10 years time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatbaldbloke Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 There are things going on in this country, and others that are just wrong, and what's more, we the silent majority know it's wrong. We have so much more power than we are prepared to use. The morals and direction of banks is wrong, don't wait for legislation to correct it, take your accounts and savings to an ethical bank. That will change banking so much quicker than legislation. And, the sacrifice of 2 or 3 percentage points on the interest rate may mean a short term loss but it will be a much greater gain in the long term. If you don't like bankers bonusses go to a bank that doesn't have fat cat executives, they do exist. On another tack, the olympics are a great opportunity to be proud of our country, let's show off for a bit, don't let these political animals ruin it for us. In the case of the home office strike why don't the 89% that didn't vote for a strike just stand up to the union leaders and tell them they are not representing their interests. While we're on the soapbox, behaviour in the neighbourhood, we can change that, we outnumber the yobs 99 to 1, let the silent majority speak. Goddammit, most of us are good people, it's a great country and we know what to do to make it better. The biggest problem we have is inactivity, it's always somebody else's job to fix our problems... Rant over.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 FBB, I agree totally. However it's the British way to leave things until they become critical then our bulldog spirit comes to the fore and we struggle, but win in the end. I'm just waiting for the supermarkets to start importing cheap milk from east europe and let our farmers go to the wall. Prices will not go down, supermarket profits will go up and the taxpayer will be left with the dole bill for hundreds of ruined farmers and their workers. However having said that I think we need a new political party as all 3 main parties are tainted. What I don't fully understand is why. Why dismantle perfectly good organizations. If the reason is to save money then I would suspect that there's very little saved. ed to add: why don't the 89% that didn't vote for a strike just stand up to the union leaders and tell them they are not representing their interests. FBB, you're assuming the 89% who didn't vote are against the strike. You may be right but equally you may be wrong. As you say the publics apathy is making the situation worse, well the ones that didn't bother to vote are the public and probably apathetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatbaldbloke Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 FBB, you're assuming the 89% who didn't vote are against the strike. You may be right but equally you may be wrong. As you say the publics apathy is making the situation worse, well the ones that didn't bother to vote are the public and probably apathetic. You're right, of course, but I was just using the maths as a way to indicate that the silent majority are likely to not support the strike but by way of apathy will let those few that are active provide direction. I'm not suggesting we stick our head in the sands where there are genuine issues but what a breath of fresh air it would be if the union representative said, the olympics are really important, they're a chance to show off what we as a country can do, so we'll shelve our issues and give the next few weeks our best shot, then we'll get back to discussing our predicament.....rather than, we have a great opportunity to showcase this country over the next few weeks but we, the active minority are going to threaten to f*** it up for the rest of you for our own ends. I'm back on my rant again, but somehow we have allowed the greedy, the immoral, the self-centred, the disloyal, the unpatriotic, the egotistic, etc to influence direction. It is just so b****y wrong. So, what am I doing, is it just talk? I am particularly offended by the greed within the banking industry, so I have withdrawn my savings from the high street banks and will re-invest in ethical banking. It will cost me several hundred pounds each year, but in the end, if more act in this way we will produce a moral, ethical banking structure that will do us and our children just fine in the long term. Rant over again but possibly not for long..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreigM Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 If you had genuine concerns about the way your pay and conditions were being eroded and had been trying to talk to your employer for 18 months would you take this opportunity to force the issue. When it will have this large a negative impact - no, I wouldn't strike at this time. If its been 18months then why chose this particular moment when it will cause maximum disruption to the country when it is in the world spotlight? Why not wait another fortnight? If they are genuinely concerned about the security of the country then why weaken it at its most vulnerable time in a generation? Whatever the reason behind the strike, it is lost by the general public seeing this union as opportunistic and greedy due to the timing of this strike - their message is lost, and by striking on that day they hand the "win" to the government. If I was a member of the PCSU I would be questioning the strategy of the leadership - it was a high risk roll of the dice, and if the government don't back down the union will have to go ahead with a strike which will see them hated across the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 so we'll shelve our issues and give the next few weeks our best shot, then we'll get back to discussing our predicament Problem is they can't "get back" as they've been seeking discussions for 18 months which have been refused. I dislike their strike action as anyone on here. But I look at why people are driven to take this action. The union representative did say they would suspend action if the government would agree to talks. I'm not sure if that's taking place but I do know the government were making contingency plans. If I was the union I would want more than agreement for talks, it will lead to nothing but delay further action for 6 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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