British Airways Cabin Crew Strike

BRITISH AIRWAYS 2010 CABIN CREW STRIKE
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(11th, December, 2010)
British Airways Cabin Crew Strike.
This essay critically analyses a recent strike that was organized and executed by the cabin crew members working for the British Airways on late may to early June of 2010. The dispute between the organization and its cabin crew staff is reported to have arisen from the claim by its crew members that they were working under unfavorable conditions and that they deserved to be provided with better working conditions and given a better pay. The claims catapulted into a dispute in November 2010 when the CEO without consultation with the cabin crew staff decided to lay off some staff members. The CEO`s reason for making such decision was to save 160 million pounds every year which could be utilized in employing new cabin crew staff members who were willing to work at a lower pay rates. Such decision was seen by the cabin crew members as being unethical and insensitive to their rights and this fueled the dispute and forced the union representing the crew members to call for a strike to call for reversal of that decision. Other reasons identified to have fueled the dispute was the idea of the management to revoke the crews travel parks and the threat to take disciplinary measures against crew members who were to participate in the impending strike (Millward, 2010).
Negotiations to resolve the dispute were held but it took a longer time than it had been anticipated hence no ample solution was reached at. The negotiations were alleged to have failed as a result of the union workers using social networks to down play the eventual effect of such negotiation and this downplayed the importance of such negotiations in resolving the issue at hand. In the midst of such confusion the cabin crew that represents the cabin crew announced the dates for the strike which later materialized on 18th May, 24th May, 30th May and 5 June.
The strike materialized as planned and it led to grounding of hundreds of flights in the Heathrow airport resulting to detrimental effects to the British Airways. According to Rothwell,2010, the strike resulted into unimaginable effects as it led to the grounding of flights thirteen times...