Posts Tagged ‘British Airways’

The Right to Strike? A Misnomer

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

You’re probably aware that the High Court in the United Kingdom has overturned Unite’s plans for 20 days of strikes against British Airways in the coming weeks because of a technicality. Naturally, the union has cried, “Foul!” However, between the risk of no cabin crews and the infamous Icelandic volcano, flying in and around Europe has been difficult in recent months.

It’s been awhile since I heard the phrase “the right to strike,” and it got me thinking about just how much the workplace has changed. The fact is that this mantra is out of date. Workers no longer have the right to strike. Instead they the right to work or not work, and there’s a big difference between the two. If they don’t want to work, fair enough. If they’re ladies or gentlemen, then they’ll give the appropriate notice and leave. If they don’t care, they may just quit. There’s nothing to stop them.

But, why should a company continue to “employ” people who don’t want to work? It makes no sense at all. I’d go further. I’d say that those who expect to are suffering from delusions.

There must come a point when managers simply say, “If you want to work, that’s great. But, if you choose not to, that’s also fine. However, because it’s our company, we have the right to contract those who do want to work.” It seems perfectly reasonable to me.

What do you think?

Bruce Hoag, PhD, CPsychol
Work Psychologist
Author (co-author Cary L Cooper) of Managing Value-Based Organizations

http://www.p-advantage.com

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: British Airways, cabin crew, High Court, Strike action
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

UNITE – Protecting Jobs? Not!

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Well. The unions are at it again. Even British Airways has pointed out that UNITE’s threatened strike action in the coming weeks is no longer about it’s original beef. The current dispute began with the removal of one cabin crew member. Now, according to the Times Online, it has switched to that of reinstating a further 55 who were dismissed as a result.

Workers first attempted to form unions, then known as combining, during the English Industrial Revolution. The reasons for them were the same then as they are now: to protect jobs and to prevent employers from altering working conditions. However, the two often amount to the same thing. Different working conditions often lead to fewer jobs in the short term. What unions fail to realize is that, barring the odd recession, more people are in work today than at any other time in recorded history. So, by limiting the changes that many companies want to make to remain competitive, they’re actually cutting off their noses in spite of their faces.

Perhaps they’ve never realized that it’s better to be a live dog, than a dead lion. Someone should tell them.

Bruce Hoag, PhD, CPsychol
Work Psychologist

http://www.p-advantage.com

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: BA, British Airways, Strike action, strikes, Trade union, unions, unite
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Cows and Climate Change

Friday, April 30th, 2010

The fervour of the climate change debate continues apace. Everyone and anything, it seems, has a carbon footprint. In a way, this should come as no surprise since carbon is an essential part of life. But, even British Airways is offering passengers the opportunity to pay a little bit more to offset the few carbon atoms for which they were responsible by taking a particular flight. It’s probably nothing more than a gimmick in any case.

I remember a scientist saying that any research proposals with the words “global warming” or “climate change” in the title were almost guaranteed to receive government funding. Unfortunately, it’s not just the Americans who are wasting tax dollars. What I’m about to tell you is a case in point.

A couple of years ago, Argentinian scientists in Castelar decided to test the affect of a cow’s digestion on climate change. (I know. The mind boggles.) In the cutting that I have, taken from thelondonpaper, there’s a picture of a cow with a tank strapped to its entire length. Fortunately, the tube (there has to be a tube, doesn’t there?) isn’t visible. I don’t know which end of the digestive tract the measurements were being taken, but the cow looks reasonably placid. Maybe it had a good anethestic.

Apparently the research was still in progress when the picture was taken because no results were reported. We aren’t told whether the contents of the tank are greenhouse gases or not. All I can say is that I don’t want to be around to find out.

Bruce Hoag, PhD, CPsychol
Work Psychologist

http://www.p-advantage.com

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: British Airways, Carbon footprint, Climate change, Greenhouse gas, www.thelondonpaper.com
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »