UK: Unite union imposes isolation of Heathrow cabin crew strike
By
Ross Mitchell and Robert Stevens
11 March 2017
British Airways (BA) cabin crew at Heathrow airport completed a seven-day strike Thursday. The workers are employed in the airline’s “mixed fleet” crew and are in dispute against poverty pay levels and inferior working conditions. With the latest strikes, the 2,900 members of the Unite trade union have taken 26 days of strike action.
Mixed fleet crew currently earn £11,000-£12,000 a year, plus a paltry £3-per-working-hour allowance for expenses and maintenance between two flights—usually abroad. This amounts in practice to earnings of £16,000-£17,000 a year.
A member of BA’s flight deck crew, in reply to a recent article in the Independent, said cabin crew had “effectively gone from £36,000 pay, to £18,000 in the last 5 years.” He added, “I’m flight deck so only know and see a small part of their day, but you’re right it’s not just about safety. Do you go to work at 3 am, and then finally get to a foreign bed at 1 am the next day, when it’s actually 11 am in the morning local?”
He continued, “The massively long days, filthy working environment and reduced life expectancy demands a reasonable wage. … For years both flight deck and cabin crew have been told the reductions in t&cs [terms and conditions] were there to keep the business profitable, whilst at the same time the companies have made huge profits, that have seen CEOs and billionaire shareholders bank accounts bloat.”
These conditions were imposed following the defeat of the national BA strike in 2010, with Unite playing a critical role. The imposition and continuation of low pay rates for the mixed fleet is part of the strategy by the International Airlines Group…