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British Airways in Court Today, Asking for an Injunction to Stop the Cabin Crew Strike Over the Christmas Holidays

Aired December 16, 2009 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

STAN GRANT, CNN INT'L. ANCHOR, PRISM (voice over): The battle to keep British Airways aloft through the holidays continues. Right now BA is in court trying to head off a planned strike.

More than 200 people are arrested as police scuffle with protestors at the U.N. climate change conference.

In our "Prism Segment" tonight they get the world's attention, but can the protests achieve anything more than that?

And they are called "lady guards", women trained to protect other women, in Egypt.

From CNN Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates, this is PRISM, where we take a story and look at it from multiple perspectives. I'm Stan Grant.

First, British Airways is having its day in court right now, arguing against a cabin crew strike set for one of the worst times possible, right through the busy holiday season. BA counsel says the union has been quote, "willful, disproportionate, and clearly unlawful" in choosing the dates.

The union says it will drop the action just as soon as management drops its plans for new cost-cutting measures.

At the same time, representatives of the union are meeting with airline officials. Talks are aimed at determining whether there is any room for further negotiations before the 12-day strike begins on December 22.

Well, for more on all of this, our Adrian Finighan is outside the high court in London.

And Adrian, for so many people affected by this, really now, a race against time isn't it?

ADRIAN FINIGHAN, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. It is indeed. So many plans, up a million people might be affected by this, Stan, as you said.

What's been happening here in the high court in the last few minutes before the court adjourns for the day, is that the counsel for the unions has been outlining their case. They won't fully present their case until the hearing resumes tomorrow morning.

Before that, at length, BA counsel, Bruce Carr, called the union actions, as you said, unlawful, disproportionate, and willful in choosing the 12 days to strike over Christmas. In his opening statement to the court he referred several times to serious disruption that will be felt by BA passengers. And some ordinary people, he said, will find it very difficult to understand.

And indeed, public sympathy has been in short supply today for the unions position. BA case is, substantially, that several hundred members of staff, who had already agreed to take voluntary redundancy weren't eligible to take part in the strike vote. Even though they would have left the -by the time the strike actually took place over Christmas. They were taking voluntary redundancy and that made them ineligible. Mrs. Justice Cox heard detailed submissions on the industrials relations law and then we finally got around to the outline of the union's case. Mrs. Justice Cox will resume the hearing tomorrow morning. And is expected to make a judgment by tomorrow afternoon.

GRANT: Adrian, thank you very much for that. Adrian Finighan joining us there, from London.

Well, if you are booked on a British Airways flight in the coming days we want to hear what you are going through. Are you worried that the strike will disrupt your plans, or are you already making other arrangements? Let us know by going to i-Report.com.

Potentially more trouble for travelers, specifically those who take the tunnel between Britain and the Continent. The union representing Eurostar train drivers say members will go on strike Friday and Saturday and next weekend as well. The company says service will continue with drivers from France and Belgium filling in. The announcement came a short while ago after talks between Eurostar and the union broke down.

Now, to the other major story unfolding today; the U.N. climate change summit in Copenhagen. The woman leading the global summit has suddenly quite, Connie Hedegaard is Denmark's environment minister and until today was president of the summit. She told reporters she is stepping aside so the prime minister can lead the forum, as heads of state arrive for its conclusion. Observers say it is a further sign the negotiations are in trouble.

With little progress inside the meeting, tensions are rising outside, as well. Organizers are calling for a large turn out to protest what they call 15 years of failed climate negotiations.

In our "Prism Segment" this evening, what do protests like these accomplish with the impending arrival of more than 100 heads of state. Emotions are already running high in and outside the Copenhagen summit. Correspondent Phil Black is in the Danish capital where he has been monitoring events and watching these protests for us.

Phil.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Stan, a few more hundred people did their best to make an assault on the Bella Center, here in Copenhagen today. In many ways protests have been a regular feature of this conference, particularly in recent days, particularly last weekend. These were perhaps the most aggressive protests we have seen so far. The goal of these hundreds of people was to try and breach the perimeter, come inside, and set up what they called a people's forum. It didn't happen.

The police didn't let them do it. The Danish police haven't been particularly tolerant of protestors of this city in recent days. And in this case, they didn't hesitate to use some degree of force. The swung batons, fired tear gas, dragged quite a few people away. We're told about 100 arrests, or so. And there were scuffles between the police and the protestors.

The activists are getting increasingly frustrated here in Copenhagen, for two reasons, really. One, to talks aren't going anywhere. They are pretty angry with how the parties here are handling themselves. As well as that with each day that the talks progress now, as they count down to the final day, the number of activists actually allowed inside the center has been cut dramatically. To give you and idea, yesterday it was 7,000, that is about half the capacity of the center. Today it is just 1,000 on the final day of the talks on Friday it will only be 90 people. There are thousands of NGO people in Copenhagen at the moment. And they feel that as the talks come down to that final day. They are being excluded. And they fear it is a sign that perhaps the world leaders are preparing to come out with some soft deal that they do not believe is good enough to solving the problems that this conference is supposed to solve.

GRANT: Phil, thank you very much for that. Phil Black joining us live there from Copenhagen. Some dramatic scenes, as well, as Phil was speaking there.

Protests take many forms and tackle a host of issues, and history has shown us with mixed, depending where and why the protest is being held. Participants put their lives at risk. Opposition protests in Iran have posed the biggest challenge to the Islamic Republic since its inception. And the government announced it has evidence to prosecute organizers of the protests. Some of the charges carry severe penalties. Images of someone burning a photo of the Ayatollah Khomeini, which was shown on state television sparked anger and a counter protest by clerics. Analysts say the government is using these rallies to manipulate public opinion.

Protest can also change government. In the case of the Velvet Revolution in former Czechoslovakia it happened not out of design but because the protests became too big to stop. Fionnuala Sweeney visited with a couple in Prague who took part in the revolution 20 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIONUALA SWEENEY, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Ivan and Lucy Pilip were on their second date on November 17, 1989 when they joined the student march that day they didn't know what to expect.

LUCY PILIP, FMR. STUDENT DEMONSTRATOR: I was a student and I was very much afraid that I would be sacked from the university.

SWEENEY: Lucy and her fellow students had seen the Berlin Wall come down the week before. The student leaders had asked permission to march, nominally to commemorate the death of a student shot dead by the Nazis 50 years before. No one could have expected what happened next.

(On camera): This street marks the start of the student demonstrations 20 years ago, sanctioned by the government. But tens of thousands of students showed, defying organizers expectations and prompting them to dare take their march to the senate. The rest, as they say, is history.

(Voice over): The police, on the orders of authorities beat up some 100 students and still they marched.

IVAN PILIP, FMR. STUDENT DEMONSTRATOR: You could feel that the people had not participated in such events before, had come and they are ready to do something. And it was more and more visible every minute.

SWEENEY: The sight of their children being attacked brought their parents onto the streets in increasing numbers over the next 10 days. By then the government had fallen. Communism was overthrown and the playwright and dissident Vaclav Havel was dully installed as the liberated countries' first president.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRANT: Well, not all protests are as effective as the Velvet Revolution, thought it depends on how you measure accomplishments. Large and often physical protests like the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in Gaza in 2005, ultimately ended with their removal from the settlements. The highly visible and emotional protest polarized Israeli public opinion. But the government still made the decision to dismantle the settlements and withdraw from the Palestinian territory. So while the demonstrations clearly had an impact on how the issue was seen, they didn't bring about the protestors' ultimate goal.

So to help us answer the question, what did these protests accomplish is David Meyer, he is a professor of sociology at the University of California at Irvine, and the author of "The Politics of Protest: Social Movements in America".

I want to start with the most immediate. We have seen these protests in Copenhagen today. People obviously concerned they are being excluded. Not expecting an outcome that is going to be favorable. But aside from being disruptive how effective are protests like that?

DAVID MEYER, AUTHOR, "THE POLITICS OF PROTEST": Well, those are great pictures, Stan. I can't imagine why CNN wouldn't want to spend a lot of time on them. And when you cover the protest you are also covering the issue. And that, right away, is a victory for the activists. It is also important to remember that the protests themselves are the tip of the iceberg. It is not all those activists are doing. And the activists that you are seeing in Copenhagen -Copenhagen is cold in December. These are people who are making extraordinary commitments to be there, but they are not the only people who share those positions. And they also represent the tip of the iceberg. When those people go home they are doing all kinds of other conventional politics, in addition to protesting.

GRANT: We are seeing, actually, now, a sit down protest happening as we speak in Copenhagen. David, another protest we have seen running throughout the year have been in Iran. You have just said then, that merely reporting and giving exposure to those protestors is some sort of a victory.

Certainly, in Iran that could be seen to be the case. They have also used social media very effectively there, whether it be Twitter, whether it be Facebook, trying to get video out and so on. Is that also an example of what is an effective grassroots protest?

MEYER: Well, this is an extraordinary change in the media environment over the last 10 or 15 years. It used to be the demonstrators would organize an event and then rush home to see how mass media covered it, to see the TV story, which might be two-minutes for six months of organizing; to see the 600 words in the newspaper. But now the word gets out even if CNN doesn't cover it, through Facebook, through social media, and I'm sure in Copenhagen today. There are people who have been corresponding for months and months and are meeting their friends for the first time. And those connections tend to continue after the big event that gets attention.

GRANT: But what about in the case like a regime like Iran, where you are battling a government there that obviously is very big on censorship. Is protest just enough, or does it have to then convert into action, and particularly action from the international community.

MEYER: Protest by itself is never enough. Protest matters when it signals other people to do other things, including conventional politics. In the case of Iran, the key thing is mobilizing out side actors including outside states to pay attention to the problem and keep the pressure on the Iranian government. And one thing that the protestors have done is they have suggested to other Iranian elites that there is a constituency for reform in Iran.

This means that people who are critical of regime, even from within the regime, see that they have space to organize and space to move and incentive to try and promote reform.

GRANT: Professor, just a final question. In the broad sweep of things, what do you think defines a successful protest and what is an unsuccessful protest? Does it have more to do with the timing? Where it takes place? The issue? What is it?

MEYER: Well, the issues matter, of course. The protest itself is once again the tip of the iceberg, the icing on the cake, and although it gets all the attention, what matters is the organizing that is going on underneath and the alliances between activist and more mainstream political figures. And over, and over, and over again, we will see that people don't protest unless they believe something is wrong, unless they believe that they can do something about it and that things could be otherwise. The history suggests over and over again that change takes place sometimes in unexpected ways. And the timeline, when you talk about Gaza, I think you are taking too narrow a time line. The protests that take place now may see they come to fruition in terms of policy 10 and 15 years down the road. It is never enough for the activists, but that doesn't mean it doesn't matter.

GRANT: Yes, we saw that with the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.

MEYER: Absolutely.

GRANT: Look, I want to thank you again. Want to thank you very much for your time and sharing insights with us today.

MEYER: Thank you.

GRANT: It is David Meyer, professor of sociology at University of California. He's the author of "The Politics of Protest: Social Movements in America". Thanks again.

Iran shows off its longest range missile. We'll tell you how far it might reach and how the test is being received elsewhere.

And an Egyptian security firm puts women on the front line when it comes to keeping people safe. We'll explain when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRANT: A top official says U.S. President Barack Obama has sent a personal letter to Kim Jong-Il in an effort to persuade North Korea to return to nuclear disarmament talks. The letter was delivered last week by Washington special envoy to North Korea Stephen Bosworth. No details of the message have been made public. It is not known if Mr. Kim has responded. Bosworth was visiting Pyongyang, trying to get North Korean officials to rejoin six-party nuclear talks.

Iran says it has test fired a new version of its long-range missile; one, in theory, capable of reaching Israel and parts of Europe. State television announced the launch in a terse statement accompanied by video of the Sajil (ph) II missile launch. Iran's defense minister says the high-speed, two-stage missile would serve as a strong deterrent against attack.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the development of the new missile makes the case for tougher U.N. sanctions on Iran. Israel had no comment.

Career women in Cairo now have a new employment opportunity and it is one you might not expect. Hundreds of females are being hired as bodyguards. Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman explains why, for many, it is the perfect job.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): How do you take down an attacker? Like this. And you don't want to mess with these women because they are training to become lady guards; female bodyguards getting ready to hit the busy streets of Cairo.

Twenty-year old Dawlat Sami read about the work in a newspaper and liked it at once. Her family wasn't so sure.

"At first my father objected," she says. "But when he came with me and saw what we did, he changed his mind.

Dawlat is a trainee with Falcon, a Cairo-based security company that provides a wide range of services in the region. Falcon has trained more than 300 women over the last three years. And in a country were sexual harassment is a growing problem, they are learning skills that could come in handy outside of work.

"If I have any problems, or somebody bothers me, now I know how to defend myself," says trainee Amani Mahmoud.

When they are not learning marshal arts or pumping iron, there is classroom instruction as well, where they are taught the importance punctuality, proper dress, and appropriate behavior with clients who include the well-to-do movie stars and foreign visitors. The company managing director Khalid Sherif says they are looking for more brains than brawn in their lady guards.

"The body isn't so important, he says, "what matters is that they can pick out suspicious people and react quickly, because with security if you delay just a moment, things can go very wrong."

(On camera): Of course, the idea of female body guards is not new. In fact, in the Middle East it was pioneered by non other than Libyan leader Moammar Ghaddafi, who likes to appear in public with a phalanx of female bodyguards.

(voice over): The Libyans no longer have a monopoly.

"People say women can't work as bodyguards, but I want to change that idea," says Rhonda Mohammed. "I want to show women can defend themselves and defend others."

And if you don't believe it, you do so at your own risk. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Cairo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRANT: A winter cold wave has Europeans bundling up. We'll have all the world's weather when we come back.

Also, new controversy connected to Tiger Woods, or rather his doctor. We'll tell you why Canadians officials have arrested a sports medicine specialists who treats a number of noted athletes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRANT: A doctor with ties to Tiger Woods and many other pro athletes has been charged with selling an unapproved drug called Actovegin. Canadian doctor Anthony Galea was arrested in Toronto in October. Authorities say Actovegin and human growth hormone were found in his possession. He is also under a joint-U.S. Canadian investigation for (AUDIO GAP). His attorney says the doctor treated Woods for a knee injury. He also says Galea never prescribed human growth hormone to any athlete.

OK, let's have a look at the global weather picture now. Mari Ramos is at the CNN World Weather Center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Mari, thank you very much for that. And thank you very much for watching. That is it for me, Stan Grant, in Abu Dhabi.

END