I don't care especially for cabin crew staff, I just have solidarity with fellow unon members who generally stand up for principles that benefit everyone as well as fighting for their own wellbeing.

I'm sorry that some travel arrangements faced inconvenience but that's a minor thing compared to livelihoods and working conditions. Nobody knows those details better than those working in those circumstances and they have made a pretty strong decision to do something about it; a decision that will lose them money for the duration of a strike. But they have placed the principle above those losses.

Just because someone does a similar job for less is no reason for them to worsen their circumstances. Hands up all you BE people who will volunteer a cut in your income on the basis someone doing the same job gets less.

Thought not.

When people are facing threats to their wellbeing and livelihoods I don't look favourably on "if they don't like it get another job" or "they should be grateful they've got jobs" or "they're greedy" coming from those merely inconvenienced or wanting to stay in their second home.


If that ruffles a few feathers, so be it.

I read on the Beeb site that one member of BA staff voted for the strike but was not aware that it would be during the Christmas period, had they known this they wouldn't have voted for it.

Where I work the unions seem to drag out pay negotiations for so long that it is almost the next financial year before we get the rise - and then they only seem to be able to negotiate about 0.25% better than the initial offer.

Funny enough there is a load of people in the UK who are taking pay cuts in Private Business so that their companies survive - employers are doing this on the basis that others are earning less and it is what the company needs to do to survive- almosts sounds like what BA are saying!

Er, BA is in the private sector. It's owned by shareholders and not the government.

I'm sure that people who earn half as much as BA cabin crew would feel the same way about missing their holiday due to a strike.

Back in the real world, when you're overpaid and your company is losing money by the bucket-load, only a fool would then deliberately antagonise their customers.

As for taking a pay cut, yes, I have done that before when it was a choice between cutting costs or losing my job when the whole company went bust.

Er I know that - where did I say anything different? My reference to Private sector was as the Public Sector are not facing the same issue. Apology accepted.

That error...did you see what it was?

It was the 900 staff losing their employment between the ballot and the date of the action. Job losses to help the company.

Still, what's a little unemployment eh?

Did you see the Daily Mail thing? Persecution maybe not, but certainly demonising.

How would you like something done like that about you? How would you like to be told you have to accept job losses, pay cuts, worse working conditions and have people telling you you are lucky to have a job and you should accept all these things because someone else gets less?

I wonder what the other 12,699 thought.

Rules are rules are rules - if we didn't have rules in UK it would be like living in France. If we had more rules, Germany!

So you agree no one was being persecuted then?

With regard to your final paragraph, my last employer just did that as have most construction companies in the UK so whilst its not nice, needs must - better to have a reduced salary than no salary!

Probably that they were being persecuted!

Actually I think a hatchet job in the mail is persecution. I'm surprised there wasn't a '20 cabin crew fiddles' list (I've seen that in the mail for other striking employees).

Have to admit, that was funny.

Give it time; I'm sure they'll get there.

Do you also think that the Mail will be taken to the European Court of Human Rights due to the persecution? Or is the use of the word persecution a bit strong when you think of people who have actually been victims of real persecution?

eh - that makes no sense? there are various meanings and degrees of persecution, and taking the worst case definition that would be used by the european court to make a point doesn't help me with whatever point it is you are trying to make.