British Airways Not the Friendly Skies

A culture of staff bullying and victimization has taken root at British Airways (BA), a new report by Unite, the largest union in the country, has revealed. Unite is calling for an immediate meeting with the airline to find ways to address the findings.

The confidential survey of nearly 2,000 BA employees conducted in November 2010 reveals nearly three in every four members of BA staff have witnessed or been subject to bullying at one of Britain’s best-known companies.  The bulk of the respondents to the survey were cabin crew members, reflecting, Unite says, workforce's fears that they have been deliberately targeted by BA's management,  seeking to "break" them and their union in order to drive down terms and conditions. (WCxKit)

Unite warns the survey reveals such an everyday and shocking level of bullying it can only harm the business. The union also believes the extent to which a bullying culture has taken root is a direct result of the war BA's management has been waging against it cabin crew since 2009.  In recent months, about 70 cabin crew have been suspended and 18 sacked (with only three subsequently reinstated) as BA continues to quash resistance to employment changes directly affecting cabin crew.

The results are published as Unite is half way through its ballot of some 10,000 cabin crew members over the issues of union busting and the introduction of a cadre of crew on poorer terms without agreement with the workforce.

1.     Almost one in every two workers at British Airways has been bullied.

2.     More than 72 percent of staff had either been bullied or witnessed bullying at work.

3.     Over 50 percent of staff said they had been bullied by higher managers and 29 percent said they had been bullied by their line manager.

4.     Intimidation, unfair criticism and humiliation were cited as the top three forms of bullying.

5.     Almost two thirds say the bullying has got worse since it started.

6.     More than 90 percent of employees are aware of company policies relating to bullying and harassment.

7.     But over six out of 10 people (64.7 percent) did not report the bullying with many saying they saw no point due to the company’s and/or management's approach.

8.     37.4 percent of respondents did report the bullying, but of those two thirds said no action was then taken by the company.

9.     Over 85 percent of cases of bullying involved more than one person doing the bullying.

10.More than three quarters of respondents said  they knew of more than four colleagues  had also been subject to bullying.

11.Almost two thirds of respondents said  they had also been abused by passengers, and 9 percent had been physically abused by passengers.

"BA management’s urgently needs to do a corporate U-turn and sit down with Unite representatives to address this bullying epidemic. That begins with lifting the sanctions imposed on over 6000 cabin crew who took action last year and immediate agreement that a third party will analyze those cases where workers have been disciplined or dismissed, often on the flimsiest of pretexts. (WCxKit)