The Real Manchester Airport
So Much For All Those Extra Jobs
IT is about time people were made aware of what is happening at Manchester Airport. In theory, the airport is owned by all the people of Greater Manchester who pay council tax.
The second runway and the expansion of the airport promised up to 5,000 new jobs, but
most of the new jobs are on minimum wage contracts for catering firms and such like.
Hardly any of the new jobs are for permanent MA Plc positions. Where skilled workers are
needed, we have seen many of the existing airport jobs going out to contract.
Last year we had market rates of pay imposed on all new starters. The board investigating market rates of pay found that most employees were currently overpaid, but - surprise, surprise - the top managers were underpaid.
This resulted in new employees doing exactly the same job being paid less than an existing employee next to them; not exactly equal opportunities for people such as ethnic minorities, women or disabled.
The management in their wisdom decided that the security staff 'with years of experience screening hold baggage were not suitable any more because they would not agree to a worse shift roster. So they sidelined them and brought in a contract firm on low wages to do the work, exactly the sort of thing we are now told is not wise in the aftermath of the twin towers terrorist attack.
In many departments people leaving or retiring have not been replaced, and increased
workloads from the increase in passengers and baggage, etc., are being dealt with by fewer
people. This may have been evident to air travellers who suffered long queues and delays
over the summer.
When they opened Terminal 3 several years ago, they didn't take on more staff, they simply used people from Terminals I and 2, and reduced staffing in those areas.
Now the last straw. After restructuring the airport group into five smaller groups (and
removing 10 managers in the process), there are to be large scale job losses. This has been
going on for weeks, not just because of the downturn in the travel industry. Ask your councillors what is going on and demand that they drop the proposed job losses at Manchester Airport.
An Airport Worker, Cheshire
Manchester Evening News 11 October 2001
The Truth Is Out!!