BALPA HQ Behind the scenes We meet the teams behind BALPA, and take a peek into what they do on a daily basis A t the BALPA office, located just off Bath Road, Heathrow, our people are split into five teams, plus the BALPA Financial Solutions team. These teams are Industrial, Flight Safety, Membership, Communications and Org, all headed up by General Secretary Brian Strutton. Many BALPA members receive regular communications from their Company Councils and are probably fairly up to speed on the team supporting them. For some members, however, the only interaction they will have with BALPA HQ is when they have a query about their membership, or when times get tough and they require industrial or legal support. The team of 40 people here at BALPA head office is always working to support members, in a variety of ways, so we wanted to give a little insight into what they do day to day, to keep the BALPA cogs turning. CHARLOTTE BRANSON, BALPA MEDIA OFFICER I LIKE THAT MY JOB IS SO VARIED. ONE MINUTE IM WORKING ON CONTENT FOR THE LOG MAGAZINE, THE NEXT ARRANGING A MEMBER WEBINAR, AND THEN I COULD BE RESPONDING TO QUERIES FROM JOURNALISTS AND ARRANGING INTERVIEWS WITH BALPA STAFF AND MEDIA REPS. SOMETIMES IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO KEEP SO MANY PLATES SPINNING, BUT THE VARIETY CERTAINLY KEEPS MY DAYS INTERESTING. JANE BARRETT, MEMBERSHIP ADMINISTRATOR ONE OF THE MOST ENJOYABLE PARTS OF MY JOB IS WORKING AT THE PILOT CAREERS LIVE AND FLIGHT CREW FUTURES EVENTS. ITS GREAT TO MEET THE CURRENT PILOTS, AS WELL AS HELP FUTURE PILOTS UNDERSTAND THE BEST OPTIONS TO TAKE, THEN WATCH THEM GROW FROM TRAINEES TO QUALIFIED PILOTS FLYING FOR AIRLINES. IAN WHITE, SCHEDULING SPECIALIST WITHOUT DOUBT, A HIGHLIGHT OF MY TIME AT BALPA WAS OVERTURNING THE JET2 HIGH COURT RULING ON THE SCOPE OF PAY HOURS AND HOLIDAY IN THE COURT OF APPEAL. THIS JUDGMENT EFFECTIVELY MEANT THAT ROSTERING DOES FORM PART OF PAY HOURS AND HOLIDAYS AT JET2 AND, THEREFORE, WE CAN NEGOTIATE WITH THE COMPANY TO IMPROVE ROSTERING ARRANGEMENTS. THIS CHANGE ALSO POSITIVELY AFFECTS WORKERS ACROSS THE UK. READ MORE Industrial READ MORE Flight Safety READ MORE Membership and Career Services READ MORE Communications READ MORE ORG READ MORE BALPA Financial Solutions READ MORE Brian Strutton READ MORE INDUSTRIAL The Industrial team is headed up by John Moore and supported by nine staff members, including four national officers, four executive assistants, and a Pay and Rewards Officer. Each national officer, supported by their executive assistants, is allocated companies to represent. The work can be incredibly varied from a national officer supporting a member at a disciplinary and conducting industrial negotiations, to executive assistants ensuring meetings are organised properly and email newsletters are created and sent to members. Our Pay and Rewards Officer keeps abreast of pay and rewards across airlines information that can be incredibly useful in negotiations. READ MORE MEMBERSHIP AND CAREER SERVICES Headed up by Wendy Pursey and supported by six people, they are responsible for unionising new workplaces and ensuring the tools are in place to support new and experienced reps; running our education programme; and providing resources that support members in their trade union work. A key part of BALPAs growth programme is to ensure that those entering the profession are represented at the earliest opportunity. The team runs extensive programmes to harness the next generation of pilots, and ensures the membership-joining experience is fluid, and the subscription income secured. READ MORE ORG Our Org colleagues are headed up by John StembridgeKing and split into two teams. The finance team including our Finance Manager and Treasurer, a Finance Assistant and a HR/Finance Assistant is responsible for all the accounting within BALPA. This includes processing invoices and reps expenses, making sure staff are paid. The legal team includes two executive assistants to the legal committee, and supports the Legal Services Sub-Committee. It is the key liaison between BALPA and our lawyers. Also sitting under Org is our Dispatch Supervisor supported by an Administrator/ Receptionist who manages the post room and ensures the BALPA office keeps ticking over. READ MORE BALPA FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS While BALPA Financial Solutions (BFS) sits separately from BALPA as a company, the team works within BALPA head office to give financial advice and services to members. Headed by Darren Williams, and supported by a Chartered Financial Planner, a Senior Technical Consultant and a Technical Consultant, it also assists BALPA in providing content for member communications, and gives advice and support to BALPA staff. READ MORE FLIGHT SAFETY The Flight Safety team is led by Rob Hunter and supported by six staff members, including two scheduling specialists, a Human Factors Scientist, a Flight Safety Specialist, a Flight Safety Officer and a PA. Our Flight Safety team has been pivotal in monitoring regulation and rostering practices, gathering data on fatigue and effecting change, offering advice to the company, and lobbying government. As a result of previous flight-safety campaigns, we have seen changes to the laws regarding drones and lasers. We continue to raise, at national and international level, the effects of the FTL regulation on fatigue and wellbeing. READ MORE COMMUNICATIONS The Communications team is led by Richard Toomer and supported by two media and communications officers. The team takes responsibility for most forms of BALPA communications, including our media and social media activity, website, forums, The Log, BALPAwide newsletters and webinars. They are also at the forefront of our external relations work, ensuring BALPA maintains a good relationship with relevant stakeholders and those in the corridors of power, to ensure our members aims and concerns are heard. READ MORE BRIAN STRUTTON Our General Secretary, Brian Strutton, is responsible for overseeing and guiding each of the teams. Supported by a PA, he is also the main link between BALPA staff and our elected National Executive Council. This is made up of 14 elected representatives, each of whom is assigned to a BALPA team to ensure the NEC is alive to the work going on in BALPA. They can also feed back from the membership to promote new streams of work. Brian also gets involved in industrial negotiations, our external relations work, and responding directly to member and public queries, among many other duties.
