The Socialist 8 July 2010

Mass action can stop cuts

Mass action can stop cuts

Build united action to stop the cuts

What the Socialist Party says

Con-Dem budget cuts: Hitting those on benefits hardest

How will George Osborne's budget affect families?

Housing benefit cuts - increasing homelessness

Cuts to disability benefits will increase misery

Fight the savage cuts by Neath/Port Talbot council

Hull: Rallying against the austerity budget

'Godfather' turning in his grave

NUS anti-cuts conference

Youth Fight for Jobs Protest!

BNP forced to abandon its 'festival of hate'

South Africa: 5,000 sacked miners on strike

Kazakhstan: The fight goes on

News in brief

Organise against academies now!

Limited new 'final' offer facing BA cabin crew

PCS will fight new attack on redundancy pay

Unison by-election: fighting leadership needed

Shrewsbury Pickets march for justice

Lindsey refinery fire death: inquiry needed

Workplace news in brief

Unite general secretary election:

Interview: Ken Clarke's prison plans

Pride, prejudice, fightback and hypocrisy

A warm welcome at Summer Camp

Socialism 2010 Saturday 6 - Sunday 7 November

When the financial wizardry lost its magic

Mali's master of the ngoni

Previous issues, etc

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Limited new 'final' offer facing BA cabin crew

British Airways cabin crew began voting on 6 July on a new 'final' offer from the company. Despite the rhetoric of BA management the new offer seems to be similar to the old offer put forward prior to the last round of strikes.

Neil Cafferky

Although there are some guarantees on terms and conditions that were not in the last offer, the substantive issues that led to the strike have not been addressed.

The company's intention to set up a 'New Fleet' of new starters on inferior terms and conditions to current employees remains in place.

This new fleet could be used as a battering ram against conditions currently enjoyed by cabin crew. The issue of victimisations has also not been addressed, with staff travel still withdrawn from cabin crew who have participated in strike action and 60 union members are still suspended.

It is therefore incorrect for the national Unite leadership to make no recommendation on this offer.

In total the offer amounts to a serious attack on trade unionism at the company. For example, variable pay top ups "will only be made to those crew who do not participate in industrial action"! This threat alone is sufficient reason to oppose this offer as it discriminates against the right of workers to go on strike.

Quite clearly the aim of this 'offer' is to postpone the impending ballot on continued industrial action.

The refusal to put forward a recommendation is a failure of leadership by the national officers of Unite, particularly the joint general secretaries.

A failure to clearly reject this poor deal can only raise doubts in the minds of cabin crew that the national leadership is fully committed to getting a better deal.

Further action needed

It would have been far more constructive if Unite had recommended a rejection and pushed on to campaigning for a biggest possible 'Yes' vote for further industrial action in the upcoming ballot as quickly as possible.

This time could also be used to campaign within the rest of the BA workforce for greater practical support for this dispute, up to and including simultaneous strike action.

United action remains the key to defeating the generalised assault on terms and conditions and trade unionism at BA.

In this issue

Mass action can stop cuts