General sekretæren i ALAE, Keith Rogers, beskrivelse av en konflikt og dets belysning i media er verdt å gjengi i INFO, fordi det som han sier er ganske riktig.
Dette er tatt fra ALAE sitt medlemsblad.

It is Saturday, the second day of my sevenday stint at Aberdeen. I have done my early morning departure, had my breakfast and am now sitting in my hotel room reading my free tabloid newspaper. The headline article is one about the potential for misery and chaos for Scottish travelers due to the possibility of BA ground staff going out on strike. There is another article about the dispute inside the paper, but it was the editorial which caught my eye. It starts by saying: “The British summer has come to be defined by two separate elements: unpredictable weather and a very predictable strike by the transport unions.” It went on: “The unions may not realize it but their actions are bordering on the spiteful. Their gripe is with BA not the British traveler. The transport unions may not be in the public sector but they provide a service that has a direct bearing on the rest of us and as such they carry a responsibility. If they continue to abuse this responsibility then they should be deprived of the right to strike at all.”

I am not going to comment on the BA dispute, as I do not know enough about it but what I will say is: why is all the blame being put at the feet of the unions and the workers? Why is there not condemnation of the company’s irresponsibility in allowing it to get to such a situation? Negotiation is all about finding the common ground and reaching a compromise. When that process breaks down or the company tries to ride roughshod over staff and their Terms and Conditions, then the last resort for frustrated employees/unions is industrial action. If it reaches this stage then there is no point in taking action if it is not going to make the collective management rock back onto their heels and return to the negotiating table. This is obviously achieved by choosing the time that the most upset will be caused, ie August Bank Holiday. Yes, the unions’ gripe is with BA and not the traveling public. Upsetting them is part of the unions’ game plan to put pressure on the company but it can be a double-edged sword. If the public are upset too much they could move away from using that company which would affect the company’s performance, which ultimately, will come back and affect the employees. It could be argued that upsetting people going on a well earned holiday is a spiteful act but I don’t know that is reason enough to deprive those who work in the aviation industry the right to go on strike.

Line Up, the recruiting agency, approached us with a view to collaborating to provide a service to ALAE members who are looking for another job. They approached us because they recognized from our historical background that we are the principal organization for LAEs. We are pleased to enter into this collaboration and will feature a regular vacancy page in the magazine along with details to access their website either directly or from our website.
 

Keith Rogers, General Secretary