Posts Tagged ‘strike’
Monday, December 26th, 2011
A strike by London Underground drivers, and a countrywide reduction in the number of train services, has meant travel problems for many who planned to travel over Boxing Day. LU tried last week to have the decision by the Aslef union to call its members out on strike blocked in the High Court. However, the judge said that the move was legal and permitted it to go ahead.
Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said the dispute was over the rights of workers to take quality time off during the Christmas period. The union is demanding that those who do come into work on Boxing Day should be awarded triple pay, and a day off in lieu.
Chief operating officer for London Underground, Howard Collins, said that everything was being done to reduce the number of workers needed on the bank holiday. He has accused Aslef of ignoring the union agreements which are already in place governing levels of pay and work.
According to Colin Stanbridge of the London Chamber of Commerce, Aslef has been attempting to hold retailers to ransom at a time when a fragile economy is having to battle against weak consumer confidence and high unemployment.
Labour has slammed the coalition for failing to keep the trains running over Boxing Day. However, the Department for Transport claims that the number of services being run is comparable to recent Boxing Days, and has hit back at Labour saying that the party had failed to condemn the industrial action on the Tube.
Tags: Aslef, Boxing Day, Christmas, Department for Transport, High Court, labour, London Underground, strike, train, Tube
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Monday, October 31st, 2011
Air France has said that the impact of a strike by cabin crew over the weekend caused less travel disruption than had been expected. The airline said it had aimed to keep around 80 per cent of services in the air, but had ended up flying 87 per cent on Saturday and 88 per cent on the Sunday. The flag carrier said it would try to fly around 85 per cent of services on Monday. The strike is due to end on Wednesday.
Air France has slammed the unions for asking members to walk out over one of the busiest weekends of the year. As well as being half term for many French schools, Tuesday is a public holiday. Many will have taken the opportunity for a bit of time off work.
In order to comply with safety rules, many Air France flights at the weekend were flying with empty seats. Because of reduced numbers of stewards, the airline said it could only take 100 passengers per flight on short-haul journeys. This meant that passengers were being turned away from check in, even though the flights remained half empty.
The flight crews are fighting against work conditions and a decision by the airline to reduce the number of cabin crew required on long-haul services. The airline was forced to scrap nine long-haul flights at the weekend, including to Abu Dhabi, New York and Tokyo.
Qantas is also involved in a labour dispute. On Friday, the airline grounded all of its planes. However, government intervention means the flying kangaroo is now airborne again.
Tags: Air France, airline, holiday, Qantas, strike
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Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic could be facing its first industrial dispute since it was set up 27 years ago as its pilots are balloted on strike action. The British Airline Pilots Association claims that a pay deal being offered to its members by the company is inadequate.
According to Jim McAuslan, BALPA’s general secretary, Virgin’s pilots agreed to a freeze in the amount they were being paid as the airline struggled with the effects of the economic downturn. The agreement was made on condition that when things improved financially, so would levels of pay.
McAuslan said that Virgin had offered to raise wages by four percent in 2011 with further three percent rises next year and the year after. He points out that inflation is currently around the five per cent mark and looks like remaining high for some time. According to BALPA, if the pilots accept the deal, they are excepting a series of pay cuts.
Virgin Atlantic, which is owned by the Virgin Group and by Singapore Airlines, said it was aware of the upcoming ballot adding that it had offered pilots what it felt was a fair deal. The airline went on to say that there was still time to return to the negotiating table.
As Virgin contends with the spectre of industrial action, it looks as if British Airways has finally put to rest 18 months of fighting with members of its cabin crew. Last week they voted in favour of accepting the latest peace deal from the flag carrier.
Tags: BALPA, British Airline Pilots Association, British Airways, pilots, Singapore airlines, sir richard branson, strike, Virgin Atlantic
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Thursday, May 5th, 2011
Disruption on the London Underground is likely in the coming weeks as union bosses declare a series of strikes which will take place over a two week period. The industrial action is in protest over the sacking of two drivers. The first three days of walkouts are set to take place between Monday 16 May and Friday 20 May and the second set of three between Monday 13 June and Friday 17 June.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union claims that drivers Eamon Lynch and Arwyn Thomas were dismissed from their jobs as a direct result of their affiliation to the union. The cases are still to be heard by an employment tribunal, but Transport for London has denied the RMT’s allegations. A spokesman said it was ridiculous to suggest the men were removed from their jobs because of union activities.
He added that it was not fair of the RMT to call its members out on a strike before the matter had been addressed by a tribunal. TfL claims one of the drivers was dismissed because he had been abusive to his work colleagues and the other removed because he flouted safety regulations.
London Underground’s managing director, Mike Brown, said 1,300 drivers had been balloted and only 29 per cent had been in favour of industrial action. He added that the RMT appeared to have its mind made up about disrupting travel and damaging the economy over a number of days in the coming weeks.
He went on to say that TfL and London Underground would do their best to keep any disruption to a minimum.
Tags: London Underground, Mike Brown, rmt, strike, TfL, Transport for London
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Friday, April 15th, 2011
The European Commission has announced that it will be reviewing the regulations which allow passengers to claim food and hotel expenses if the plane they have booked a ticket on is grounded for some reason. The airline industry has been lobbying for a change in the law since the eruption of a volcano in Iceland caused the closure of European airspace for nearly a week last year.
More than 100,000 services had to be cancelled costing the industry some £2.2 billion. A large chunk of the bill came from compensation claims made by stranded travellers. The denied boarding regulation was first introduced to protect customers from airlines suspected of deliberately delaying or cancelling services because the flights were not full.
However carriers are claiming that the legislation is being misapplied when it comes to unforeseen disruptions such as volcanic ash in the atmosphere. Following the eruption, a number of major airlines demanded compensation from the governments which made the decision to ground fleets.
Complaints about who should pay passenger compensation also came after air traffic control staff decided to strike and sever snow storms caused airports to close. Ryanair has long made it clear that it is opposed to the passenger rights rule. Airline spokesman, Stephen McNamara, said it was not up to airlines to bear the cost of airports being unable to clear snow, workers walking out of their jobs or governmental decisions to close the skies.
An official at the European Commission said the legislation was not introduced to deal with events such as a week long closure of airspace.
Tags: European Commission, flights, hotel, Ryanair, strike, volcanic ash
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Thursday, April 14th, 2011
The ongoing conflict between British Airways and the union representing it cabin crew could soon be over as a clinical psychologist is brought in to help. The Unite union has until the weekend to let BA know whether there will be disruption over the Easter weekend. Last month, crew members voted for a fourth time to walk out if the airline did not offer to concede to demands.
Mark Hamlin, who claims to specialise in fragility of trust, has reportedly met with senior members of the airline and union bosses. He said that he was involved with helping Unite, BA and cabin crew representatives construct a more effective working relationship. He added that he hoped that in doing this the wider issues surrounding the conflict would be resolved.
It is thought that a resolution is more likely now that former BA boss Willie Walsh has been removed from the equation. Keith Williams replaced him as chief executive at the beginning of the year and has expressed a wish for a good working relationship with the airline’s cabin crew.
Unite has until the weekend to inform BA of any strike action and also has to give seven days notice. Unfortunately for the carrier’s customers this could result in disruption over the Easter weekend.
Last year there were 22 days of strike action. BA claims that contingency plans it has in place mean that even if cabin crew do walk out nearly all of its scheduled services will continue to run as normal.
Tags: airline, BA, British Airways, cabin crew, Easter, Keith Williams, strike, Unite, Willie Walsh
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Monday, February 14th, 2011
British Airways cabin crew are preparing to go to the polls once more to vote on whether further strikes are deemed necessary. The airline and its employees have been engaged in a battle over working conditions, pay and travel privileges since the end of 2009. If crew members decide to vote in favour of a walkout, disruption could potentially upset the plans of those aiming to travel with the airline at Easter or over the bank holiday marking the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton.
Leader of Unite, Len McCluskey, has said it is unlikely that members will want to strike over the holiday period, but if they do, they will receive his full support.
Last year saw 22 days of industrial action cost BA around £150 million. The flag-carrier has since employed ancillary staff to make sure that all of its long-haul services will operate as usual in the event of a strike. A recent ballot was declared invalid after lawyers for the airline made objections over how the ballot was conducted.
A spokesman for BA urged Unite to go back to a deal struck at the end of last year. Although union bosses agreed that deal, more militant members said it remained unacceptable.
Although the recent vote was not declared valid, 5,700 union members appear to have been keen to continue their fight with BA. The latest ballot is expected to be conducted before the end of this month meaning strike action could take place as soon as April.
Tags: BA, bank holiday, British Airways, Easter, Kate Middleton, Prince William, strike, Unite
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Thursday, December 16th, 2010
Leaders of the union representing British Airways cabin crew have said they cannot rule out the possibility of industrial action during peak holiday periods in the first part of the New Year. If the result of a new ballot is for fresh strikes then the half-term holiday is under threat as is Easter and Prince William’s wedding on 29 April.
Unite’s militant leader, Len McCluskey, warned families against booking with BA. The latest strike ballot will begin next week and is set to run until 21 January. After this, assuming the vote is in favour, Unite will need to give BA a weeks notice that strikes will take place. Those strikes can then happen over a period of three months before a new vote is called.
Mr McCluskey has made no secret of the fact that he is in favour of industrial action to prove a point. He is well known for saying that he feels strikes can never be irresponsible and has also challenged the strike laws in the UK.
In parliament Prime Minister David Cameron has condemned the hard-line leader for his attitude adding that he could not believe Mr McCluskey had been voted into the top position of one of the largest unions in the country.
The disagreement between Unite members and BA began last November when the airline introduced plans to reduce cabin crew numbers on flights and freeze wages. Since then the fight has focused on issues such as the confiscation of travel perks and punishment of union members taking part in industrial action.
Tags: airline, BA, British Airways, cabin crew, David Cameron, Easter, Len McCluskey, Prince William, strike, Unite
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Monday, December 6th, 2010
Air traffic controllers in Spain have caused travel misery for thousands by staging a wildcat strike over one of the country’s busiest weekends. Although authorities claim things are returning to normal some 650,000 travellers found themselves stranded after the controllers decided to stage a walkout at 5pm on Friday.
However, public anger has not just been directed at the air traffic controllers but at the country’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Many have been wondering where he got to during the chaos as he failed to appear in front of the media or at any of Spain’s airports. The situation was left in the hands of Mr Zapatero’s deputy, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba.
The strikes were sparked after the government announced it intends to sell 49 per cent of Spain’s airports authority, Aena. According to the air traffic controllers’ union, Usca, this will be done at less than the stake is worth. If Aena is privatised then the controllers will lose earnings as well as their monopoly over Spanish airspace.
Mr Rubalcaba hit out at the controllers for choosing a weekend which was extremely popular with families wanting to get away. He said Spain’s reputation had been damaged and its businesses hurt. He added that there would have to be accountability and that he would initiate plans to make sure that the situation was not repeated.
There have been reports that some controllers were persuaded back to work at the point of a gun and under the treat of being arrested on charges of sedition.
Tags: Aena, air traffic control, airports, airspace, Spain, strike, travellers
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Thursday, November 4th, 2010
Following the devastation of the world’s banking crisis in which business travellers all but disappeared, British Airways has announced that, in October, it carried 4.6 per cent more premium class passengers than in the same month a year ago. Overall, passenger numbers were up for the airline by 3.9 per cent on last October. However, load factor was reduced by a percentage point for the month to 79.8 per cent.
Total passenger numbers increased from 2.76 million last October to 2.95 million this year. The number of passengers travelling in non-premium seats was also up by 3.7 per cent on a year ago.
The Court of Appeal this week delivered its ruling on BA’s decision to reduce the number of cabin crew it dedicates to services flying out of London’s main airport, Heathrow. A year ago, BA announced it would be reducing staff numbers as a cost cutting measure. Cabin crew union Unite rejected that plan claiming it would be in breach of contract and brought the case in front of the High Court.
The High Court found in favour of BA, but Unite was not content. The matter was then sent to the Court of Appeal. On Wednesday, the appellate court announced it would be upholding the decision of the High Court.
British Airways said it was pleased that its modest changes to crew numbers could remain in place and that it had been vindicated over the contracts issue. However, Unite is soon to ballot cabin crew members over possible future strike action.
Tags: airline, BA, British Airways, cabin crew, Heathrow, High Court, passengers, strike, Unite
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