So, are these the desperate acts of a downtrodden workforce at the end of their tether, or is this all just selfish muscle-flexing from a bunch of narrow-minded lefty rabble rousers?

Option A

I got 0% last year…

If they strike when I'm trying to fly to Canada I am personally going to kick every member squarely in the balls. So option B.

nothing this year or for the next 2yrs 😐

Most people won't get much of a rise – we're all in this together….

bunch of ****..

I've not had a pay rise for 2 years, next year ain't looking so good either

I took a little bet with myself that there would be several folk posting " I got no payrise why should they"

I don't know anything about he history of the dispute so don't know – my guess is that the BAA has made significantly more than 1% increase in profits – but that is a guess

TJ, BAA has posted a loss for the first half of the year according to the news this morning.

We made a fat profit last year and are still in profit this year, but our pay-rise was 1% less than the BAA offer.

Matt

We got nowt last year and 1% this year.
At one of our clients everyone got a 25% cut last year!

How should pay rises be decided? My company pays us based on what the market is paying for similar people so in that case the company's profits are irrelevant. Is that fair? Well I won't be able to leave for more money so I suppose so. I can't really strike though….

I don't know anything about he history of the dispute so don't know – my guess is that the BAA has made significantly more than 1% increase in profits – but that is a guess

My work does not generate an income so cannot make a "profit" so are you saying that I should never get a pay rise using your formula?

matt_bl – Member

TJ, BAA has posted a loss for the first half of the year according to the news this morning.

Fair enough – over the whole year tho?

We made a fat profit last year and are still in profit this year, but our pay-rise was 1% less than the BAA offer.

Matt

You are being ripped off then – the workers who generate the profits should share in them – your bosses are using the recession as an excuse.

Actually, having looked at the figures, BAA made a loss last year, so I may retract my earlier statement.

Other companies, not mentioning any names, have offered less than one per sent when profits and dividends are up 15%. That takes the pi$$.

It's a good arguement for BAA not being allowed to own so many airports I think.
If that was the case then a dispute like this couldn't cause such widespread disruption.
Break the Spanish giant's (BAA's) grip on UK airports!

You are being ripped off then – the workers who generate the profits should share in them

So should we share in the losses too?

I'm in the process of booking 5 or 6 flights to take place over the next year between the UK and South Africa and I'm avoiding BA. I just can't take a chance on them not being able to move me when I need moving!

I'm sure Virgin are making a killing right now.

0 % last year
£450 ormised if they hit a target that they missed by 3%
Summer profit bonus of £7oo ish not to be paid

Who knows some employers are taking advantage of the fragile situation to get away with low wages at this time[ clearly not the bankers who got us in all this mess in the first place].
Some employees are not being realistic given current climate.
Dont know enough to be informed but the clealy feel strongly on this issue if thay are going on strike

SST
BA and BAA are differnt cmpanies one flies planes the other runs the airports planes fly from. Who you book with wont matter where they fly from will

You are being ripped off then – the workers who generate the profits should share in them – your bosses are using the recession as an excuse.

I agree with TJ. Which admittedly makes me feel a bit funny 😉

So should we share in the losses too?

The workers usually do, in the form of below-inflation pay rises (so effective pay cuts), or redundancy.

The workers usually do, in the form of below-inflation pay rises (so effective pay cuts), or redundancy.

Well if my company chose to pay people less than the market rate then some of us would leave so that wouldn't help them very much.

Market rate is the way for sure.

Why should they be allowed to strike. Get rid of the old fashioned unions. If you are not happy with the pay…leave.

Too many people are out of jobs and are trying desperately to find them. These folk would jump at the chance for a salary. Yes if you have a few offers on the cards then you can ask for a payrise and if the company is making good profit you have a point.

It is up to the company to decide it's pay and if they are making losses they aint gonna be willing to a payrise. For BAA I can sea a re-organisation happening, then the workers will wish they hadn't went on strike. Rather have a job with no pay rise than no job.

BAA has problems, it is highly leveraged following a takeover by a Spanish construction company and it is being forced to sell two of its most profitable airports and there is a decline in passengers.

Perhaps if they want a rise, look for another employer, or resign and you get a rise every year while on the dole,paid for by the taxpayer.

Theres plenty out there that could /would do the jobs at the airports, thats what unemployment causes a surplus of labour,so management have a good choice of who they employ.

would a BAA strike acheive anything other than p1ssing off the airport customers?
my inlaws have saved very long and hard to have a trip to canada next month to see family they havent seen for over 15 years – if that goes t1ts up they will be gutted

MS – Member

Why should they be allowed to strike. Get rid of the old fashioned unions. If you are not happy with the pay…leave.

right!

so you work 60 hr weeks with no paid holiday, no sick pay etc etc –

Unions are needed to ensure the workforce get their fair share. Without unions you would be working in unsafe conditions with no holidays nor sick pay and 60 + hr weeks
Edit – no protection from unfair dismissal and no protection from harassment and no notice pay?

Get real

But do the workers all want to strike? One figure I heard was that on 50% of those eligible to vote actually did. Of those who voted 75% voted in favour of a strike. So hardly an overwhelming mandate to close the UK's airports.

The union in question is once again UNITE. Is this more about them excercising their perceived power than any genuine concern for their members?

Unions are needed to ensure the workforce get their fair share. Without unions you would be working in unsafe conditions with no holidays nor sick pay and 60 + hr weeks

Get real

And it is [u]tTHE GOVERNMNET WHO ENFORCE THE LAWS THAT CONTROL THIS LEGISLATION,[/u] not some overpaid gobby union chappie, looking to get himself on Sky.

I've had a zero pay increase in (now) the third year running.

I'm personally happy that I have a job.

Project – who fights to make the laws? Not the employers or the Tories thats for sure. They fight against every law to improve the lot of the working classes – most recently the minimum wage.. The labour movement which is (was) in the main the unions.

Understand some industrial history.

Pete – fair point, but we form governments on the outcomes of similar voting rates. Plus, those that didn't vote had the chance to and didn't, so their opinion counts for nothing.

Project – without the unions, much of the legislation wouldn't be there in the first place.

To be fair though, if you earn a hundred grand, 1% is a reasonable rise.

TJ

Without unions you would be working in unsafe conditions with no holidays nor sick pay and 60 + hr weeks

Historically, yes.
Nowadays don't we have a whole raft of health & safety, working hours, minimum wage, etc etc directives that negate the need for unions?

MS

Why should they be allowed to strike. Get rid of the old fashioned unions. If you are not happy with the pay…leave

Why not have a look at the working conditions in the dark satanic mills pre Unionisation or perhaps tell me what employers have freely given to workers in the past? Employers opposed, unions,education, ending of child labour holidays, holiday pay, sick pay, maternity pay, minimum wgae, working time directive etc.Everything really as frankly given a choice between profit and employer rights guess which they choose. they only employ you because they can make more money from your work than they pay you if they cant they sack you. [quoteIt is up to the company to decide it's pay [/quote]
Surely the employers have the right to decide to accpet it?
Yes many people dont have jobs at the moment perhaps we should be angry at the bankers who got us in this mess rather than people who want a cost of living wage increase? Perhaps we should put full employment higher up our list iof priorities?
Den given you think that employers ar enow benign and nce have a look at the likelhood of being sacked if you are in a union or not. See also wage rises for unionised via non unionsied,hours of work etc. Utter fantasy employers dont care unless you organise against them. Like saying we dont need the police because we have laws now.

To be fair though, if you earn a hundred grand, 1% is a reasonable rise

Indeed. However, I doubt that most of Unite's members in the airports earn a fifth of that.

Peter unions have no power – only the collective membership does. Without the support of the workforce no strike will work

It may well be that this is a stupid and pointless strike – I don't know if the employer can reasonably afford a payrise or not.

tj ITS fought, theres no r,

If the workers want jobs, they have the choice over what job they do, and what pay they take, if not they are free to get another job,or to sign on for a lot less pay.

DenDennis – and who makes sure these are enforced? – unions. hence unionised workplaces have better compliance with the law

Ban strikes in all industries, anyone strikeing gets the sack, and then somebody can either have a new job, or be retrained to do a new job, then the ones who have been sacked may realise that some small gobby bloke who still got paid lost them their job.

i'm supposed to be flying out of heathrow on the 25th and given they haven't given a date, this is making things rather uncertain.

They are striking over a pay rise of 1% and that they didn't get a target driven bonus for which they didn't meet the target anyway!! totally ridiculous. on top of that, they only balloted 40+% (not even half of those who they could).

its a joke And I am rather p1ssed off with it all