BA refusing to rule out compulsory redundancies

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The British Airways chief executive, Willie Walsh, has said that he is not willing to rule out compulsory redundancies and set a deadline of three weeks for coming to an agreement on pay and job cuts.

BA, which currently has a workforce of 40,000, is facing difficult times financially and Walsh said that it is not possible at this time to say that compulsory redundancies can be avoided.

The carrier is offering a voluntary redundancy programme to cabin crew staff as it looks to reduce its 14,000 flight attendant workforce by 2,000 jobs.

In comments made at this year’s International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Walsh said that 30 June is the dead- and the industry – is in a “fight for survival”.

Talks with the Balpa pilots union, GMB and Unite are set to begin today. The CEO of BA added: “There needs to be urgency around the discussions we are having.”

Ground handling staff represented by Unite have rejected the proposed pay cut by a six-to-one margin. Pilots have agreed to 100 voluntary redundancies and will soon vote on a proposed pay cut and new working conditions.

When asked if the airline was considering compulsory redundancies, Walsh replied: “I would not rule that out.”

Thanks to www.guardian.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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