Description

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In 2009, cabin crew in the BASSA union embarked on a historic, two-year battle against British Airways which was seeking to impose reduced crew levels and to transform working conditions. In the face of employer hostility, legal obstruction, government opposition and adverse media coverage, this workforce, diverse in terms of gender, sexuality, race and nationality undertook determined resistance against this offensive. Notably, their action included twenty-two days of strike action that saw mass participation in rallies and on picket lines. The dispute cost British Airways 150 million in lost revenue and its main outcome was the cabin crew's successful defence of their union and core conditions. Here, in their own words, Cabin Crew Conflict tells the strikers' story, focusing on cabin crew responses, perceptions of events, and their lived experiences of taking industrial action in a hostile climate. Foregrounding questions of class, gender and identity, and how these were manifest in the course of the dispute, the authors highlight the strike's significance for contemporary employment relations in and beyond the aviation industry. Lively and insightful, Cabin Crew Conflict explores the organisational and ideological role of the trade union, and shows how a 'non-traditional' workforce can organise and take effective action.

About the Author

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Philip Taylor is Professor of Work and Employment Studies in the Department of Work Employment and Organisation at the University of Strathclyde. He has researched and written extensively on call centres, work organisation, global value chains, the future of work and trade unionism. He had edited the journals, Work Employment and Society and and New Technology, Work and Employment. He is the co-author of Fighting Fire (New Internationalist, 2018).

Praise For…

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Deserves to be read by everyone interested in building a better world for workers' Paul Mason, author of 'PostCapitalism: A Guide to Our Future'

'Unique ... it lays bare cabin crew emotions ranging from the sense of injustice, anger, fears and anxieties to the joy and sense of liberation that can come from collective organisation' Maxine Peake, Actress and Writer

'This excellent book is a timely reminder that strikes and conflict remain enduring features of UK industrial relations. The authors make a significant theoretical and empirical contribution to our understanding of the meanings of strike action from the p