STANDING By BALPA members TOGETHER We asked a Ryanair member and a BA member to give us personal accounts of how they feel about industrial action – and what it’s like to go on strike The Ryanair member Reflecting on this year’s Ryanair strike, several questions come to mind: first, was it a success? I’ll come back to that. The background to our unrest is well known within the industry. Pilots at Ryanair have long felt they’ve been treated as no more than an expensive inconvenience. We often hear frequent dismissive remarks quoted in the press about how well we are paid for so very little work, or how automation will render us redundant in the WE JUST DON’T WANT TO ADMIT TO PASSERS-BY (OR OURSELVES) THAT WE WORK FOR AN EMPLOYER THAT WE FEEL RIDICULES US SO PUBLICLY BALPA member who was prepared to walk out and sacrifice a day’s pay, there was another pilot willing to work a day off and earn extra pay. Clearly, we need to work on unity. Pilots need to understand that the airlines that offer the best contracts are also the ones with the strongest union membership. Did we disrupt the operation? No flights were cancelled, and colleagues from Europe were flown in to replace them. The company was keen to point out that on-time performance actually improved over the strike period. Were we intimidated? Certainly, our junior colleagues with loans to repay and command courses to worry about had their own future, with single pilot operation looming on the horizon and aircraft now so easy to fly that the cabin crew will be able to take over in an emergency. This, when we have invested a great deal of our time, energy and money in providing our employer with a conscientious, professional and caring workforce. The very fact that we Ryanair pilots can often be seen shuffling around airports wearing our own donkey jackets over our uniforms, with rucksacks over our shoulders, rather than walking proudly through the terminal with head held high as do our compatriots in TUI or BA – who are not ashamed to wear a smart, company-supplied uniform, complete with pilot case and hat – goes to highlight the current level of feeling. We just don’t want to admit to passers-by (or ourselves) that we work for an employer that we feel ridicules us so publicly. Can we change our relationship with our employer? We want to have our working conditions and benefits brought up to the industry standard, but attempts to negotiate seem to be thwarted every time. Management cites a lack of commitment from the Company Council, and our representatives blame management for dragging their heels in entering negotiation. We clearly cannot bring about change without talking to each other, and so it appeared before the strike that we had a stalemate. Do we have unity? Perhaps the ballot demonstrated that we do not speak with one voice. Many voted to strike, some voted against and, for every reasons for concern, and some pilots were not 100% sure where their loyalties lay: with the union, their colleagues or their careers. Bizarrely, according to our management, the fact that other airlines are struggling with debt, or are going out of business, is good enough reason for our pilots to batten down the hatches and not push management for more money, despite Ryanair’s healthy balance book. The outcome of strike action is still yet to be decided, of course, but here is hoping a positive way forward can be found. The British Airways member I was out of sorts – unusual for me. As an airline captain, I am selected, trained and practised at being cool under pressure, analytical and decisive. Today was different, though. Today, I was putting my job and career on the line to support my union’s call to strike, something I have never been asked to do before. I snapped at my daughter’s reasonable question, failed to hear my wife’s gentle rebuke. I was not myself. Pilots are trained to be problem solvers – we are not normally afforded the luxury of sitting back and waiting to see what happens. We have developed sophisticated problem-solving processes, and so I find it difficult to understand why my union colleagues and pilot management have so far failed to resolve what is universally seen (at least among my peers) as a reasonable position. We are not demanding the boss’s sacking – although many have no time for his attitude or performance. We are not demanding political or impossible changes. We are simply seeking respect for our contribution to a successful business. The family is quiet over breakfast – everyone is feeling the tension. I am long- resolved not to go in to work. This is not an internal battle over the decision – my mind is firmly made up. This is emotional conflict between the logical decision to support my friends and colleagues, striking as one, and the emotional desire to always be a professional pilot, delivering my passengers safely to their destinations. My wife gave me a longer-than-usual hug and looked deep into my eyes before she departed for work, my daughter checking that I would ‘be all right?’ as she left shortly afterwards. I spent the day in communication with fellow pilots, supporting one another, discovering that the ‘out of sorts’ feeling was common to us all, and determined, to a person, to see it through. INDUSTRIAL