British Airways staff dispute

Posted by admin on 15 December, 2009 under Business advice, Business news, Businesses in Trouble, Credit crunch | Read the First Comment

I am again saddened and annoyed at the Unions and their short sighted view over the company that the staff they represent work for, that being British Airways.

The unfortunate insight they have missed is that the damage they are doing, not only to present customers and the damage to goodwill, but also to their long-term goodwill. Please don’t let this icon of a company go the way the British Car Industry and Coal Industry went, which were both destroyed by the British Unions – work together with the company to make the company profitable and ensure it’s future.

If anyone is a worker for British Airways and they happen to read this article – I would like to appeal to you and ask you to re-consider your views on strike action. If the staff of British Airways strike now during the festive period, not only are you destroying peoples holidays, wedding arrangements and Christmas’s, but you are also putting a huge nail in the coffin of the company’s future – thereby jeopardising your jobs.

I am certain a huge percentage of the people who will be affected by this strike would never book with British Airways ever again and it would make me think twice about booing a flight with them too, that’s for sure.

The government has to be answerable to this situation too and I think they should step in and change the legislation on Union powers. I am of the opinion, if staff are not happy in their work or in what the company is doing, then move on and get another job with another company or in another industry – don’t be selfish.

Unions need to recognise that there is a deep recession going on right now and that the airline industry is going through a tough time – British Airways made a stonking loss of over £400 million last year and will likely make an even bigger loss this year. No company can survive these types of losses and the management must make cost savings. If the company makes a loss then it is in real danger of going out of business. If British Airways goes out of business then no one will have a job – so that will have achieved nothing, except for the destruction of the company.

There is of course the possibility of a takeover and I am sure that Sir Richard Branson is rubbing his hands together right now and contemplating this eventuality, but even with this outcome there will undoubtedly be redundancies – so I would argue having a job is better than no job at all.