"BRITISH Airways wants its entire workforce to sign up to new contracts which would allow them to lay-off staff without negotiation.
Union leaders fear the “traumatised” workforce is being railroaded into accepting the equivalent of "zero-hour" deals which could be ripped-up in the event of turbulence in future.
Details emerged last night as The Sun was leaked a breakdown of job-losses at
British Airways - with 931 engineers among those getting the boot.
Yesterday union chiefs submitted legal papers to the High Court to argue that BA’s bid to make 12,000 staff redundant is illegal.
They say the 45-day "consultation period" should in fact be 90 days.
Leaders
blasted the airline for jettisoning staff when BA parent company IAG was sitting on £8.3billion in its coffers.
Airline insiders said the mooted June 15 deadline is in fact the earliest a deal could be reached, with the likelihood being staff issues are resolved by December.
Workers given the boot will be offered standard statutory redundancy plus three months wages.
A BA insider said: “A negotiating process is under way. Everything is up for grabs. The airline is fighting for survival.”
The Sun was shown BA’s predicted job loss breakdown - with 1,130 flight crew getting the boot.
Also leaving BA are 1,022 from head office, 931 engineers, 219 contact centre staff, 2,420 Heathrow ground staff and 342 Gatwick ground staff.
The projected job loss total is 11,913.
'DIRTY TRICKS'
BA was yesterday accused of “dirty tricks” and faced a furious backlash over controversial plans to axe staff after using taxpayer cash to furlough its workforce.
Five MPs near Heathrow airport wrote an angry letter to BA boss Alex Cruz asking for an urgent meeting to explain himself.
The letter, penned by Seema Malhotra, MP for Feltham & Heston, said: “We would urge you to work with unions and government to do everything possible to find a solution and mitigate job losses.
“We would greatly appreciate if you could urgently meet with us to provide a briefing on steps you are taking to alleviate the immediate financial pressures and reduce the number of jobs which could be cut, the extent to which government schemes are assisting with the impact and the support you will be providing to those who lose their jobs.”
The cross-party letter was signed by Ruth Cadbury, MP for Brentford and Isleworth, John McDonnell MP for Hayes and Harlington, Virendra Sharma MP for Ealing and Southall, and James Murray MP for Ealing North.
Another - MP, Tory Andrew Griffiths representing Burton - wrote to constituents accusing BA of “dirty tricks” and a huge “over-reaction”.
He said: “If I was a cynic I would speculate that BA has done this precisely in the hope that everyone lobbies their MP and that they got more government bail-out money as the result.”
Unite yesterday told BA staff: “BA has availed itself of millions of pounds of taxpayers money, ostensibly to avoid making staff redundant.
“But they have not honoured that commitment or the spirit for which it was intended.
“In fact it would appear that BA has simply sought to take advantage of staff being furloughed and dismiss them in their absence.”
'LEGALLY AND MORALLY WRONG'
The unions said BA's behaviour was “both legally and morally” wrong.
Swathes of furious cabin crew yesterday boycotted an online chat with BA’s cabin crew boss Amy James.
Pilots union Balpa said it was “hugely disappointed” with BA for its “opportunism”.
In a scathing response to BA’s plans, Balpa said the airline was “in breach” of Covid emergency plans: “The main purpose of the government Job Retention Scheme is to avoid the need for any compulsory redundancies.”
BA was accused by the pilots’ bosses of trying to “exploit” the coronavirus pandemic.
The Sun told first how
BA had furloughed around 36,000 staff amid the coronavirus shutdown.
BA bosses plan to ditch its Worldwide, Eurofleet and Mixed cabin fleets to create a single new crew team at Heathrow, serving long-haul and short-haul flights.
The Sun told yesterday how
BA could stop all flights from the UK’s biggest airport Heathrow - and may decide never to return to the second largest hub Gatwick.
BA’s redundancy plans and talks with the union were put on hold when
coronavirus struck, decimating the
airline industry.
Insiders said strike action could follow because “BA staff are traumatised and have nothing left to lose”.
A spokesman for BA said: “We can’t comment further while we consult with our unions”
Original source:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/115359...hour-contract/