Back to the future? Let's hope not

Those who lived through the 1970s may recall this snippet from the comedy archives: Arthur Scargill is on a bus with a friend. Friend says: “I see the daffs are out.” Scargill replies: “Is it official or unofficial?”

OK so it wasn’t funny even then. And like most comedy of that decade, it’s as fashionable now as cheesecloth shirts and the Boney M back-catalogue. But it did have a certain resonance. One that, in time, may become all too familiar. Because with the first blooms this spring, comes a major industrial dispute that could herald a return to the bad old days of employer/ union strife.

British Airways versus Unite was a battle waiting to happen. Determined to dismantle the restrictive practices that make BA a costly dinosaur, CEO Willie Walsh has tackled the issues head-on.
Aggressive he may be, but he has good cause.

Recent figures put BA’s annual spending per head at £30,000 per crew member, against £18,400 for British Midlands and £14,000 for Virgin Atlantic and Thomson. Walsh knows that the gap must be closed if BA is to survive. And it seems that the public and the government agree with him.

Faced with tough economic reality, Unite has hardly covered itself in glory. It alienated the public by voting to strike over Christmas and then bungled the ballot, allowing the company to pull the plug in the High Court. Now it’s about to score another massive own goal by making Easter an air-traveller’s nightmare.

But it’s surely too easy to paint the strikers as uncaring militants. They are merely struggling to protect terms and conditions they’ve had for years. And although well paid in comparison with the rest of the industry, they’re not buying yachts on their kind of money.

In fact, terms and conditions are the industrial flashpoint of the moment. Whatever shade of government we elect this spring it’ll be faced with brutal financial choices. Cuts in public services are inevitable and with them will come attempts to reduce the cost of redundancies and final pension salary schemes. With union anger stoked up by bankers’ bonuses and the MPs expenses scandal, things could get ugly.

The PCS (Public and Commercial Services Union) is already spoiling for a fight. Alistair Darling will have to cross its picket lines to make his Budget speech on March 24th. And as the PCS steps up its campaign to defend conditions of service, the effect will be felt in jobcentres, benefit offices, ports, driving tests and courts across the country.

For many employers, industrial unrest will be new territory. But there’s no magic formula to staying strike-free, you have to work at it. One of the most depressing aspects of the British Airways dispute is how both parties have conducted negotiations through the media. Also, whatever the strength of BA’s case, Unite’s allegations about management bullying and intimidation leave a nasty taste.

Mutual respect is at the heart of all good relationships – likewise between employer and workforce. So maintaining open and honest communication is vital. As employers you should try to see things from the other side; put yourselves in their shoes. That way, even the toughest negotiations will be framed in an atmosphere that’s positive and empathetic.

If you want to re-live the seventies, download some ABBA and dig out your flares. The pickets, power-cuts and the bad jokes we can all do without.

For further information please contact Paula Morris. T: 029 2047 4401 E: p.morris@capitallaw.co.uk

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