British Airways is being accused by a union of “holding a gun” to the heads of senior cabin crew at Gatwick.
More than 300 cabin managers and pursers who refuse to accept a new working structure would lose their jobs by the end of next month, the Unite union warned.
The restructuring meant that cabin managers would have to take pay cuts of up to £9,000 a year if they agreed to become ‘customer service managers’ – the lead crew position across the rest of the BA fleet, Unite claimed.
Some of those sent letters took to a campaign website named ‘Be Fair BA’ to anonymously complain about their treatment – with one correspondent describing the move as an “injustice” following years of loyal service.
Another described the planned changes as being an attempt to feed the “BA greed machine.”
The airline told Sky News: “We have been consulting with the cabin crew trade union for 10 months on proposed changes to senior cabin crew roles at Gatwick so that we have an operation which is sustainable, competitive and crucially ensures we will deliver a great service to our customers.”
BA argued that pursers stood to benefit from the step-up in responsibility under the plans but Unite demanded the company hold further talks before imposing the changes.
National officer, Oliver Richardson, reportedly said: “We’ve put forward a number of different options to BA, but instead they are ploughing on with changes which will result in some senior cabin crew at Gatwick receiving a significant pay cut or losing their job.
“This is unacceptable. Our members play a central role in making BA one of the world’s favourite airlines and feel increasingly betrayed.
“Holding a gun to senior cabin crew by saying ‘accept the new role and a pay cut, or be made redundant’ is not the way you would expect such a well-respected airline to behave – especially when you consider their published profits.”