Industry | 2010.02.12
BA suspends cabin staff in Facebook row
Tough action comes in middle of strike ballot as union accuses airline of \'internet McCarthyism\'
British Airways has suspended 15 flight attendants who wrote Facebook comments and sent private emails about a "name and shame" list of pilots who volunteered to help break any strike, the Guardian has learned.
The airline has also demanded that unions reveal the identities of a further 32 members of the cabin crew union, Bassa, who posted messages about the list on a thread on its discussion forum.
The suspensions come in the middle of a strike ballot, due to close on 22 February, of BA\'s 13,000 cabin crew over imposed changes to working practices.
Unite, the union representing 12,000 BA cabin crew, condemned the airline for bullyboy tactics, claiming some members had been suspended merely because they were Facebook friends of others under investigation.
A spokesman for BA confirmed "a number of staff" had been suspended while the airline investigated "allegations of reports of staff being threatened", but would give no further details of the nature of the investigation.
It confirmed asking Unite "for assistance" in identifying members who had posted "inappropriate comments on the union website".
The wave of suspensions began at the weekend, it is understood, after one cabin crew worker acquired a list of 40 pilots who had volunteered to work as cabin stewards should a strike be called. That worker posted a message on a Facebook page saying they had the list, and asking others what should they do with it.
The list of pilots is not believed to have been published on Facebook, or on the Bassa site, but news of its existence spread through private emails forwarded to others.
Those under investigation received calls from the airline\'s management, ordering them to attend meetings at the crew report centre at Heathrow\'s Terminal 5. Those meetings have resulted in 17 suspensions so far, it is believed.
Some of those suspended insist they had not read the Facebook message, nor replied to it, and could only have been suspended on the basis that they were a Facebook friend of the original poster, said sources. Others, who were not Facebook friends, say they were suspended because someone else had messaged news of the list to them through Facebook.
Unite\'s assistant general secretary, Len McCluskey, said: "BA has unleashed a cyberspace witch-hunt. Cabin crew have been suspended simply for being a Facebook friend. This is McCarthyism for the internet age.
"This bears all the hallmarks of a management drunk on its own machismo, regardless of the damage done to the airline\'s image and reputation. It is now time for BA\'s management to quit harassing its workforce and get back to negotiating a solution to the dispute."
One source said of the disciplinary hearings: "It\'s like something out of The Crucible. They were asked: \'Are you on Facebook? Have you ever engaged in BA-related discussions on Facebook?\' Whatever the answer, they were still suspended. Just commenting on the existence of the list, it seems, is enough to get someone suspended."
Some staff being investigated, it is understood, had received and forwarded, in separate private emails, a separate list of names of BA "strike-breaker" staff enrolled on the airline\'s cabin crew course, which started two weeks ago to retrain non-flying staff to perform steward duties.
Letters given to suspended staff say: "You have been suspended because of allegations that, in relation to your activity on Facebook, you took part in conduct likely to harass a BA colleague and/or incited others to take part in such conduct."
The allegation is also of having "committed serious breaches under BA\'s data protection policy by accessing and using, or attempting to access and use, personal data of a BA colleague or colleagues for illegitimate and/or unauthorised purposes".
They now face a "preliminary investigation" and, ultimately, possible dismissal for gross misconduct.
Willie Walsh, the BA chief executive, last month called for volunteers from the airline\'s non-flying staff, such as baggage handlers and check-in agents, to retrain to work as cabin crew during any strike "to keep our customers flying".
If the strike ballot succeeds, as seems likely, the first possible strikes could be on 1 March.
Pilots are crucial to BA\'s strike contingency plans as they provide a ready-made workforce by already possessing the necessary criminal record checks and special visas required to work at US destinations, which account for 70% of BA flights. They require three days retraining, compared to three weeks for other BA staff.
BA and Unite are awaiting a high court ruling on whether the airline broke crew contracts by imposing changes in working conditions.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/feb/12/bae-facebook-strike-action
