virginatlantic strike !!!

[martin1]

apparently just seen on sky news virgin atlantic cabin crew have announced 2 48 hour strikes to take place in the new year very sad news sort it out virgin!

[Simon Veness]

That is really bad news. I was hoping they could come up with a decent compromise to keep things going as no airline can really afford a strike - it's terrible public relations and, even if the staff feel like they are getting a raw deal, they could be the ultimate losers if Virgin lose business. :(

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Union members among Virgin Atlantic cabin crew will strike twice in the new year after they voted in favour of industrial action.
The strikes will run for 48 hours each, starting at 0600 on Wednesday 9 January and from 0600 on Friday 18 January.

Unite union members say Virgin crews are underpaid compared with their counterparts at other airlines.

They voted 71% in favour of taking the first industrial action in the airline's history.

[martin1]

luckily it doesnt affect me but its disgusting dont they think that they are affecting families who maybe dont have much money and have saved up for ages for the holiday of alife time to be screwed up coz they want to strike. yes i understand they want more money but dont we all want more money . crikes i am not on that much money but i cant strike why should the poor customers suffer its them i feel sorry for not the cabin crew im sorry to say . they knew what the pay was when when they started the job so i cant understand why now the strike. if they dont liek the pay why not find another job?? im sorry if im ranting but it really annoys me to see possible holidays ruined by this. what are virgin atlantic management doing for the possible hundreds of affected customers what will happen to their holidays???

[Mickey Mouse]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7154070.stm

Thats screwed my business trip to San Fransico then. 10th Jan. Hate going with B Sit down shut up dont bother me for anything A (yes i dont tend to like BA going over the atlantic):angry: SORT IT OUT VIRGIN YOUR GOING TO LOSE CUSTOMERS.

[martin1]

i wish i could just up and strike. they at least have a job if they are moaning that other airlines pay more why didnt they join that airline in the first place. are they gonna operate any flights at all over the strikes??

[Mickey Mouse]

I have no idea thats the sad thing:angry:

[martin1]

not good simon susan has it made the news over there in sunny florida or snowy michigan??

[Simon Veness]

It doesn't really make the news over here, but we obviously do monitor the likes of the BBC for things like this. I would hope Virgin will still be able to get some flights up and running without union workers, but it will certainly disrupt their normal schedule and it might be that their lower-revenue routes (like Orlando) will take the biggest hit during the strikes :(

[Mickey Mouse]

Not sure Orlando is a low revenue route tbh. 2 Flights from Gatwick and 1 from Manchester (2 on friday and saturday) actaully probably generates more income than San Fransico, Las Vegas, Carribean, Japan and South Africa. As they are 1 sometimes 2 flights a day. Although there is a higher density capin on the Orlando route it still has only 10 less UC seats than those flights ex LHR and that is made up by the extra PE, Economy seats.

Also some good news, it MAY not be as bad as it seems, its 71% that wanted to strike on those that voted, 50% of there cabin crew did NOT vote, so Virgin claim that under 50% voted FOR strike action. So Virgin Atlantic Airways will be operating at under 50% operation. If that makes any sense what so ever...

[Mr Orlando]

SORT IT OUT VIRGIN YOUR GOING TO LOSE CUSTOMERS.

They lost me years ago... but thats another story

[dolphingirl]

Looks like there is not actually that many flights affected. We are Virgin Flying Club Members and we just received the following information in an email:

Currently, only the flights below will be affected:

Departing from the UK:
Flight No. Departure Date From To
VS25 9, 10, 16, 17 January 2008 London Heathrow New York (JFK)
VS39 9, 10, 16, 17 January 2008 London Heathrow Chicago
VS11 9, 10 January 2008 London Heathrow Boston
VS671 16, 17 January 2008 London Heathrow Nairobi



Departing from outside the UK:
Flight No. Departure Date From To
VS26 10, 11, 17, 18 January 2008 New York (JFK) London Heathrow
VS40 9, 10, 16, 17 January 2008 Chicago London Heathrow
VS12 9, 10 January 2008 Boston London Heathrow
VS672 16, 17 January 2008 Nairobi London Heathrow


They say 90% of their flights will operate as normal on strike days.

dolphingirl

[katie666]

Although I do sympathise with the people flying on the days when the strikes happen, my son & DiL included, we should remember that nobody goes on strike just for the hell of it. When people are backed into a corner with nowhere else to go and the management will not come up with a sensible compromise, then they have no other course of action but to strike. What percentage increase have the cost of our flights gone up in price over the last few years? I pay approximately 10% more for my flights now than I did 12 months ago. Have the Virgin staff been offered anywhere near 10% increase in their wages - no, they were offered 4.8%. This is still twice as much as public sector workers but in my view, is not unreasonable. We should be supporting our airport staff not castigaing them.

Katie :)

[dolphingirl]

I usually do sympathize with people who see no way out but to go on strike. In this case however I beg to differ. I have read all over the place that the union leaders were actually backing the pay deal. So if the union leaders think it is a fair proposal then what right have the members to strike?
I hear you about the price increases. I work for an airline (not Virgin Atlantic and not as cabin crew either). In most of our European markets we just raised our prices by 8%. Will I get a pay rise of 8% with my January pay review? Will I heck! Do I expect it? No way! The reason for the price hike is the ever increasing cost of aviation fuel. We have done away with the fuel surcharge about a year ago. My employer figured that fuel is part of the operating cost and should therefore be calculated into the fare and not charged like a tax. This means that every time the price for fuel goes up, the airline will absorb the cost. At some stage this is no longer feasible and the fares have to go up. Most customers will not know how a fare is put together. They just see what they have to pay for a ticket. Quite a substantial part of the price you pay is taxes. In spring the UK departure tax doubled. Other countries have introduced new taxes or raised existing ones as well. Does the airline see a Penny of this? No! It is therefore unrealistic to expect pay rises in line with an increase of fares.
The airline industry is not know for being very generous when it comes to pay. I knew exactly what to expect and I am sure most other airline employers do as well. In all honesty, my basic pay is nothing to write home about, but if you look at the bonuses and perks we get on top, the balance sheet looks very different: shift pay, meal allowance, language allowance, paid overtime, pension scheme, concessionary travel, discounts for hotels, generous annual leave, quarterly performance bonuses, Christmas bonus, profit share,etc. Do I have to work hard? Yes! I did 6.5 hours overtime at the end of my 8 hour shift yesterday as one of our flights had to overnight due to technical issues. I finally got home at 6:45 this morning. Is the job glamourous? Most certainly not. There is not a day going by where I do not have to deal with abusive customers. Do I get paid according to my skills and responsibilities? Probably not, but I knew that this would be the case. This is probably the most interesting and rewarding job that I have ever done. Incidentally, at my location, out of 250+ members of staff, there is not a single union member. I have never heard any union mentioned in any newsletter or corporate communication either. It is not that the company discourages union membership. Far from it. Periodically we have leaflets and membership forms for the relevant unions openly in the office - that is until the staff (not the management) uses them as scrap paper. Being an airliner (as we airline staff refer to ourselves) means that we are part of some global fraternity. We look after our own, but we do not bite the hand that feeds us. I get off my soapbox now, but I could just not let this image of airlines as modern slave drivers go unchallenged.

dolphingirl

[1969steveb]

Hi Everyone,
I hear the comments you have put on here Dolphingirl and also Katie666 and being a shop steward myself for many years i think what we have to understand in this country is that without our unions a lot of our workers would be in a far worse position that we are in now. This BAA row isn't about pay it is about final salary pensions, to which i'm lucky enough to be still in for the company i work for, although 90% of this country has closed this pension. I'm flying out to Orlando in January myself and hopefully we will not be affected but if i was it's not the end of the world! I would prefer and this is getting on about tax on fuel, that as a country we would stand up against this goverment as we did 7 years ago and fight against this, we had this goverment over a barrel until new laws were passed and all the do-gooders said it was wrong. The trouble with virgins paydeal is that yes 4.8% is a good deal for the first year but it is a 2 year deal with the second year to be at the countrys inflation rate currently at 2.1%. We always go on the R.P.I. rate in our negotiations, its is at 4.3% currently. We have a new amalgamated union in this country now called 'UNITE' and i wish we would!!!!!!!!!!!!!!