British Airways must follow rules when it comes to job cuts, ministers warn
The transport secretary has warned British Airways (BA) that it must follow the rules when it comes to making sweeping job cuts, saying he is “very, very concerned” about the 12,000 roles set to be made redundant.
BA has come under heavy fire in recent weeks over its decision to make the cuts, with many people accusing it of using controversial “fire and rehire” tactics to change the job conditions of 30,000 of its employees.
Willie Walsh, the chief executive of BA parent IAG, has insisted that the carrier is following the law with its restructuring programme.
The impact of the coronavirus crisis, which has hammered aviation around the world, has made the cuts necessary, he said.
Speaking to the transport select committee this morning, Grant Shapps said he had spoken to Walsh to share his concerns over the redundancies.
He urged unions GMB and RMT to join in the talks, saying it was crucial for them to be involved in the negotiations.
Committee chair Huw Merriman pointed out however that the unions have thus far declined to join the talks because of the conditions being threatened.
In a recent report, MPs labelled BA a “national disgrace” over the cuts, while fellow committee member Gavin Newlands has launched an emergency bill designed to outlaw such negotiating tactics.
Shapps did not say whether the government would consider direct legislation to prevent the tactics being used in negotiations.
At other points in the mammoth session, the secretary of state defended the government’s support for the aviation sector, saying it had gone “over and above” to support the industry.
He pointed to the fact that airlines had made use of both the furlough scheme and the Bank of England’s corporate financing facility during the lockdown.
Between them, BA, Easyjet, Ryanair and Wizz Air have drawn down £1.8bn from the commercial paper scheme.
Beyond that, Shapps said, airlines were able to apply for additional support under the government’s “Project Birch” scheme to prop up strategically key firms.
“Now it’s not going to be possible in all cases to rescue every company but the help has been invaluable and without it we wouldn’t have the number of aviation businesses still in existence that we do”, he added.
He was also pressed on the government’s plans to implement air bridges to other countries with low rates of coronavirus infection, but declined to give further details of which nations would be included.
The government is set to announce changes to the blanket 14-day quarantine period on 29 June.
However, he did say that those countries being considered for the travel corridors would need an equivalent of the UK’s track and trace initiative.