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By Sarah Young
LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - The trade union battling British
Airways (BA) has met investors in its parent company IAG
, seeking to ramp up pressure on the airline over plans
to cut staff, pay and conditions.
BA plans to cut 12,000 staff, or more than a quarter of its
workforce, to tackle the coronavirus crisis and has also angered
unions by proposing new contracts for the workers it keeps.
Unite, the union which represents BA cabin crew, has
responded by lobbying for law to be changed to allow BA to be
stripped of some valuable take-off and landing slots at London's
Heathrow Airport if it proceeds with it plans.
Sharon Graham, Unite's executive officer, told Reuters it
had won significant political backing for its campaign and met
investors this week to highlight the risks to BA's profits if it
lost key airport slots.
She said Unite had support from 90 lawmakers from several
parties. A minister said earlier in June that BA's slots could
be reviewed.
Graham forecast the battle with BA could last a year and
said its significance went beyond the airline industry.
"If we let this company get away with this, then other
companies will follow suit. There'll be things people would like
to do and they'll use the crisis to do it," she said.
Under historical rights, BA operates over 50% of slots at
Heathrow and losing any would hurt its profits.
At the moment, about 22,000 BA staff are furloughed.
Unite says the 30,000 staff it plans to keep are being given
new contracts, some with pay cuts of up to 70%. BA says it has
proposed pay cuts to a maximum of 20%.
The union says other airlines including easyJet,
Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic have all agreed that pay
cuts and other changes would be temporary.
Alex Cruz, BA's boss, told staff in June that if slots were
removed, more jobs would go.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Michael Holden and Mark
Potter)
