The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 11th August 2023
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 11th August 2023
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Or not if you work for Richard Branson these days. The 835 pilots employed by Virgin Atlantic are planning strike action. They have voted by an overwhelming 96 per cent for action over pilot fatigue.
The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) is challenging Virgin’s present scheduling and rostering arrangements, introduced during the pandemic and not due for review until the end of the year. This saw flying hours increase by 20 per cent.
Virgin claims its pilots are rostered in for 750 hours on an average year. The maximum flying time for a commercial pilot allowed for by the Civil Aviation Authority set at 900 hours per year. Virgin claims to “honour all agreements and have offered to enter formal pay and lifestyle negotiations with BALPA’s pilot union representatives”.
According to LBC radio, a BALPA survey of Virgin pilots shows that three-quarters of them have seen a colleague “clearly not fit to do so due to fatigue or tiredness”, and nearly ninety per cent had experienced or witnessed a colleague make a mistake in the flight deck. Almost all pilots say the claimed short-term measure is now having long-term consequences, with more pilots reporting unfit due to fatigue.
Miranda Rackley, BALPA’s interim general secretary, warned: “There are serious concerns relating to pilot fatigue and well-being around scheduling and rostering arrangements.”
One pilot told the broadcasting station that pilots were “constantly” calling in fatigued like “the crew of the Titanic telling Captain Smith that there’s an iceberg of fatigue ahead, but he’s sailing on thinking about the glory”. He also said that despite the CEO of Virgin Atlantic earning over £3.5 million last year: “We are not asking for more money, we are asking for a roster which allows us to be safe. No passenger would want to fly with a pilot who is suffering with fatigue.”
Strangely enough, two of the protesting pilots employed have a sister-in-law and a sister in the Cabinet to sort things out.
Virgin Atlantic was almost brought to a total standstill during the pandemic and claims that its present arrangements are essential to keeping it profitable. BALPA says the present allegedly temporary measures are a cause of dangerous fatigue levels among pilots. “In recent years we’ve supported each other and negotiated sensible solutions to the biggest crisis in global aviation – COVID19,” but “we’ve stayed true to what matters to us… flight safety, protecting the piloting profession and supporting each other.”
Some 4,000 Virgin Atlantic employees were laid off during the pandemic, but the wider Virgin Group was not short of $250 million to bail it out.
BALPA says: “We remain ready to commence negotiations to find an acceptable way forward and urge Virgin Atlantic to listen to its staff and put forward an acceptable offer that our members could support,” but BALPA “prefers to address the concerns through negotiation and industrial compromise and will only countenance industrial action as a last resort.” That will put the fear of God into the hearts of Virgin’s management…
… Meanwhile on the ground
... disputes are rumbling away at various airports.
At Birmingham Airport re-fueller drivers employed by logistics company Menzies have firmly rejected a nine per cent pay offer. Last year, the workers received a six per cent pay rise, which due to inflation was also a significant real-terms pay cut. At the same time, Menzies most recent annual report shows it with revenues of over £1 billion in 2021 and operating profits of £60.4 million.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham noted: “Menzies can afford to pay and it should pay. The company cannot expect these workers to agree to two years of real-terms pay cuts during a cost-of-living crisis when it is bringing in such massive profits.” The union’s regional officer Sulinder Singh added that: “Holiday makers will not be pleased that their summer getaways could be ruined because Menzies’ greed has resulted in their planes sitting on the tarmac. This dispute can be avoided but Menzies needs to return with an offer our members can accept.”
If management do not make concessions an all-out indefinite strike action will begin next Tuesday. The airlines affected include TUI, easyJet, Wizz Air, Ryanair, Lufthansa and Emirates.
Further south, at London’s second airport, Gatwick, a strike scheduled for the start of month was called off. Workers employed by Gatwick Ground Services, a subsidiary of British Airways, have voted to accept an improved pay offer worth 10.3 per cent. At the same time they will receive a significant market-rate adjustment in their shift pay, which makes it even better. Parallel strike action by handlers at DHL Ground Handling, ASC and Menzies had already been called off following dramatically improved pay offers.
It is not a happy ship, however. Unite regional officer Dominic Rothwell warns that: “The threat of strike action continues to loom over Gatwick. Further strikes will be called in the near future, which will cause substantial disruption across the airport, unless the companies concerned make vastly improved offers which meet our members’ expectations.”
Those involved include ground handlers serving Norwegian, Norse Atlantic Airlines, and Delta, Wilson James who supply assistance to less mobile passengers, and DHL Gatwick Direct all voted in favour of industrial action in other disputes over pay.
Across the country 24,000 British Airways staff (excluding pilots and management) have had 13.1 per cent pay rises over an 18-month period before a £1,000 one-off payment, and a promise of more to come if inflation is high.
In order to reverse the brutal fire-and-rehire imposed at the start of pandemic, Unite has secured an agreement to the effect that no staff member will have the rise applied at a lower rate of pay then they were receiving in 2020.
Sharon Graham says: “The fact that Unite has reversed the fire-and-rehire cuts while also securing a large increase in pay, underlines how the union’s relentless focus on the jobs, pay and conditions of members, is delivering for workers financially.”
National co-ordinating officer Oliver Richardson added: “The British Airways deal is the latest evidence of how Unite is securing significant pay increases for workers throughout the aviation sector, and as the sector recovers, we are also securing improvements for our members’ terms and conditions.” Let’s hope so…