Unions at British Airways have threatened months of industrial action following a mass meeting of ground staff and cabin crew near Heathrow on Thursday.
Officials of the Unite union warned of widespread industrial and legal action against BA, saying the workers pledged to strike and fight “all the way” in defence of jobs, wages and redundancy pay.
BA is in the process of cutting as many as 13,000 staff from its pre-Covid workforce of 42,000. About 6,000 have so far taken voluntary redundancy.
Many of the cabin crew who have been retained face substantially changed conditions and a loss of as much as 40% in pay, with Unite warning many will be on “zero hours-type contracts”.
The union accused BA of “destroying the possibility of any settlement” and of changing the terms of voluntary redundancy by “refusing to honour a long-standing agreement”.
It has threatened strikes and “continuous litigation”.
Unite assistant general secretary Howard Beckett said: “BA’s attacks on its workforce will see it faced with strikes in the autumn along with the persistent threat of disruption through widespread legal action.”
He warned: “This fight will go all the way.”
Referring to BA parent IAG’s plan to acquire Air Europa and managers “getting” what he called “a free pass”, Beckett suggested: “The idea that this is a business in trouble is a lie.”
IAG agreed a €1 billion deal for Air Europa at the end of last year but is seeking to renegotiate the price.
Beckett warned: “We will instruct our legal specialists to proceed to industrial and legal action which will hit BA in the autumn.”
Oliver Richardson, Unite national officer for civil aviation, accused outgoing IAG chief executive Willie Walsh of using “the opportunity of this crisis to fulfil his long-standing desire of reshaping BA as a low-cost carrier but with higher prices and fatter rewards for the boardroom”.
Richardson said Walsh “has pushed this workforce to a place where they have nothing to lose” and argued: “This business is sitting on billions.”
A BA spokesperson said: “The global pandemic has resulted in job losses across every industry. This is the biggest challenge we’ve ever faced. Many airlines have already made thousands of staff redundant.
“We are not immune to this crisis. We have to adapt to survive, so will continue with the proper, lawful consultative process and keep inviting union representatives to discuss our proposals.”