In the run up to the BAA ground staff and Virgin aircrew strike ballots, it would seem that a war of words and lobbying has broken out on the web. The post below is typical of the anti-strike, anti union, sentiment being propageted.  This came from the airlines.nets aviation forum which is designed a discussion place for professionals and enthusiasts.

In yet another example of Neanderthal UK union action, BAA workers are threatening strike action over the Christmas & New Year travel periods because they lack the intelligence to face up to the realities of the modern world where “final salary pensions” are no longer sustainable. The disruption could close Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted in particular as the fire-fighters (who all have two or three jobs anyway) are fully subscribed union members.

If they don’t like their jobs with BAA, they should quite simply bugger off and work somewhere else instead of threatening the public time and time again. Maybe they should try working for themselves like millions of us out here and find out how difficult the world really is. Muppets.

On the other side of the fence the Union representing both BAA and Virgin state 

 "Our member's do a professional and responsible job for one of the country's highest regarded airline and their pay should reflect this.  At the moment Virgin Atlantic's cabin crew earnings are far less than their comparators on the main business routes at British Airways and clearly this is no longer acceptable to our members.  Unite has done everything we can to avoid this situation but we have been left with no alternative but to ballot for strike action in an effort to get the company's to recognise our member's contribution to the company's continued success."

And the reponse by Virgin...

Virgin Atlantic says it is disappointed the ballot is taking place, and that its two-year offer is the best in the airline industry in 2007.  Virgin proposes to raise salaries by 4.8% in the first year, and retail price inflation in the second year.
"We would hope that the cabin crew who are union members would not do anything to affect our leading reputation for customer service," a Virgin Atlantic spokesman said.

Sounds like a veiled threat to me.  

Anyway, the fact of the matter (for those worried by potential events) is that Unite is to run its two ballots - at BAA and Virgin - in parallel, with the closing date for both being 20 December. Any result in favour of strike action would require legally require seven days notice before action began.  That would mean the earliest dispruntion potentially being 27th December. This I think is unlikely given the season and that time to organise involved. Perhaps more like new year.  

The Telegraph noted that while the BAA dispute has been rumbling for some time, the Virgin dispute has continued and escalated despite negotiations and Virgin agreeing a three-year pay deal in late summer this year. A national officer for Unite the union wrote to members recommending that they accept the deal. Yet despite his "strong recommendation" that the union members agree the deal, it was rejected by the cabin crew in a consultative ballot in the autumn.

It now seems that it may take arbitration to put the brakes on any action. Yet it would appear that feelings are running deeper than anyone expected. At the heart of the matter is the disparity with other airline crew pay. Yet Virgin claim that only 1,200 of the aircrew have so far voted against the deal. Well it sounds like something doesn't quite stack up. So a combination of a vote from BAA staff to take industrial action on the 27th of December and Virgin aircrew following suite may put paid to anyone thinking of crossing the Atlantic to take advantage of the favorable dollar in the New York Christmas sales.