Just back from dropping my wife off at the airport where she was to spend a few days in Nice with friends and just as I started to write this, I got a call saying the flight was cancelled due to air traffic control issues (Are the French on strike today?). And to top it off, there are Tube strikes in London which will really hit businesses hard. I guess we’re going to see more of these kind of strikes and disruption due to the necessary austerity measures being put in place by European governments.
What I don’t understand however, is how these strikers think. They’re clearly not running these businesses otherwise they’d see the damage they’re doing to trade. Take British Airways for example. Compared to other airlines, their staff are paid really good money, but each time they strike, they reduce the confidence in their customers. This of course leads to their customers booking rival airlines which reduces the demand for British Airways flights.
Don’t they understand that fewer bookings require fewer staff and more job lay offs? It’s a perpetual cycle which has the opposite effect to what they expect from their strike.
OK, rant over.
I’m heading off to a meeting today to see what opportunities there are in Europe for my Expert range of products. Invest NI run a course called Going Dutch, which will introduce me to market opportunities in the Netherlands and beyond.
Let’s hope the Dutch won’t be striking when I’m due to go over or they may end up suffering from shaving problems for longer than they need to!
C’est la vie!