bmi steals pilots' pay
A good summary from a Balpa Press Release.........
(Lufthansa have not completed the actual purchase of SMB's shares yet - in a month or two (possibly) the co. have said...)
BMI AIRLINE PAY SCANDAL
Pilots in the airline BMI are now voting on a motion of no confidence in chief executive Nigel Turner as their union BALPA (British Airline Pilots' Association) is considering legal action after an unprecedented pay scandal.
Following extensive negotiations and, in order to avoid a pilots' strike in 2006, the airline proposed a three year pay deal for 2007, 2008 and 2009. Following a membership ballot the membership in BMI settled on this.
With effect of January 1 this year the third year increase was paid to the 400 pilots. But at a meeting of the BMI board some days later the company decided to renegue on the pay deal and pay nothing for 2009.
Worse, the company went into pilots' bank accounts without authority and took back the increases they had paid.
'This is as serious a situation as I have come across,' said Jim McAuslan, General Secretary of BALPA. 'As well as the pilots balloting on a motion of no confidence we are exploring legal action on these events that have absolutely astonished the lawyers.
'On Monday next week we are convening a special meeting in Frankfurt with all the other pilot unions in Lufthansa, the company that is purchasing control of BMI. The meeting of pilot unions from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and the UK will discuss this unprecedented action and what we as pilots from the five countries can do about this.
'The tragedy is that not once did BMI or its parent Lufthansa come to us to say they had a financial problem. We could have discussed that. But they simply renegued on the agreement and took money out of pilots' bank accounts.'
Further information from Keith Bill on 020 8656 0860 or 07968 528 527