ABAP acts

ABAP Staff Travel Fighting Fund

This posting is appearing here and on the news page of the ABAP website at http://www.abap.org.uk/

Readers of the blog will know that at present the Liaison Council (which BA appoints and regards as the organisation through which it would like to deal with pensioners) has written to the CEO, Mr Walsh, expressing (it says) our dissatisfaction with Staff Travel 2009. Their letter, written in January (and which we have not seen since the LC deals secretly with BA), has not received a reply - which will come as no surprise to anyone who’s written personally to Mr Walsh.

ABAP has therefore decided to move the matter forward to the next stage independently and has established a Staff Travel Fighting Fund to place the campaign on a proper financial basis. As explained in the blog, although initially this may initially appear to be a rather mean-minded approach it should be remembered that many of those pensioners affected by Staff Travel 2009 are not ABAP members (since they don’t receive UK pensions), and conversely many ABAP members are not adversely affected by Staff Travel 2009. It would, therefore, be inappropriate to use existing ABAP funds for the Staff Travel 2009 campaign.

Even more importantly it means that all money raised for the Staff Travel Fighting Fund is to be ring-fenced. This means that not only will those funds only be used for the specific campaign but, since that campaign has defined and time-sensitive objectives, any excess raised will be refunded fairly to the donors at the end of the campaign. The intention is that the same amount of money will be contributed by each person, up to the full amount of the individual donation. Any part of each donation that remains will be refunded to the contributor. It will not be merged into general ABAP funds.

Furthermore, the campaign’s initial aims and objectives are also strictly defined and thus donors will know that their funds will not be used for activities of which they are unaware.

We hear repeatedly that British Airways doubts that more than a couple of hundred pensioners and staff actually care about Staff Travel 2009. The ABAP Staff Travel Fighting Fund will show to everyone, including British Airways, how widespread is the concern, not merely at the unfairness of the specific proposals but the cavalier way in which they have been imposed. Staff and pensioners, unaffected by Staff Travel 2009, are worried that if BA can enforce this change without censure or protest, what other changes could they make with no reaction from pensioners or staff.

This is therefore a request for money, sufficient money to enable ABAP to examine the precise legal bases on which Staff Travel 2009 can be challenged and to report back to everyone concerned what those options are, the strength of the argument and the likely cost of initiating proceedings, initially in the British Courts and eventually to the appropriate European Court.
Obviously we don’t wish to publish chapter and verse which would merely give British Airways the benefit of our research. However the legal bases include custom and practice, general precedents in UK law, specific precedents in European law and age discrimination in both jurisdictions.

However legal action is not the only route and if the advice and opinion is that the legal challenges are not sufficiently sound or might cost more than we can reasonably raise, the matter will not come to end.

Again for now we don’t propose to publish or discuss openly the course of action which we might take but it would be action on a scale that money raised by this call for funds could be used for.

Please therefore give as generously as you can - not on the basis of an annual subscription for I don’t believe this will be a matter that lasts like pensions, but rather as a one-off donation demonstrating in money terms your feeling about the company’s actions. Please include your email address where possible.

As ABAP members know, ABAP accounts in sterling. If funds are received in foreign currencies they will be converted to sterling at the best rates available on the day. Any pro rata refunds will be expressed and made in sterling also so whilst we don’t wish to discourage financial support from those whose lives are fully engaged in a foreign financial environment, we do want you to be aware of the small costs involved in handling such subscriptions.

In the next few weeks ABAP will publish its proposals for handling the Staff Travel 2009 in terms of manpower. At that time it is likely that calls will be made for volunteers to form a working group (or any term avoiding the words "sub-committee" since this matter is unconnected with pensions, ABAP’s original concern) to decide on the precise action to be taken. This group will form the body which will ultimately decide on the expenditure of the Staff Travel Fighting Fund. As previously expressed, although it would be desirable for at least one representative from the ABAP committee to be on the working group, the group should also reflect the universe of concerned and affected pensioners internationally. Geographical location is not an impediment to active membership although time zones might mean a few early morning or late night conference calls for some!

Please make all contributions to the Staff Travel 2009 Fighting Fund payable to:

ABAP

and send them to:

ABAP Staff Travel Fighting Fund
Unit 10
Solent Industrial Estate
Hedge End
Southampton
SO30 2FX

Money received like this will be transferred to a special high interest account and only used for the Staff Travel 2009 campaign.

Many thanks for your support.