British Airways has asked all staff to sign new ‘zero hour’ contracts that would allow the airline to lay them off without negotiations, it has been reported.
The beleaguered carrier has already announced plans to send 12,000 workers ‘to the dole’ owing to the coronavirus crisis, and warned it may end operations at Gatwick, London City Airport and even Heathrow.
Its Spanish owner, International Airlines Group (IAG), has sought a £900million loan from Madrid for its Spanish-based operations Iberian Airways and Vueling.
However, it has not asked London for a similar bailout. It is thought that this may be in a bid to force other companies out of the UK market.
Unite the Union ordered legal proceedings against the airline yesterday, and demanded that the business supports its UK workers.
BA’s plan to change staff contracts was reported by The Sun on Sunday, with union leaders fearing employees may be railroaded into the agreement.
Unite’s national officer for aviation, Oliver Richardson, accused BA of ‘smash and grab’ opportunism on Friday. He said that while the parent company’s actions to seek a bailout in Spain were to be welcomed, it was ‘concerning’ a similar deal was not being sought in Britain.
‘This is another gross insult to the UK workforce that BA plans to send to the dole,’ he said.
‘Rather than seeking to preserve jobs and workers’ terms and conditions and act for the good of the UK aviation sector, BA is guilty of smash and grab opportunism.’ BA’s 12,000 layoffs represent a quarter of its workforce and come after the airline furloughed 22,626 employees, more than half of its 45,000 total. (BBC)
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