Clarification & BA Betrayal

In Coronavirus by GMB x54 Communications

Dear GMB Member,

Clarification
A number of our members have contacted us expressing their fears that they are in imminent danger of being made redundant.

We are concerned that this is creating a sense of panic. So we would like to share with you an excerpt from standard emails that have been recently sent to a number of our senior reps and full-time officers from their senior counterparts within the company:

  • ‘we have made it clear that, with the application of selection criteria and notice periods, we are not anticipating anyone leaving the business on or around 15 June 2020, unless they are leaving on a voluntary basis
  • we recognise that the collective consultation period is for a minimum of 45 days, not for 45 days’

Of course this doesn’t in any way mean that the threats to our jobs, our pay and our contracts have receded.

But in our view it means that we should be proceeding in a disciplined and considered way – and not making any decisions out of panic.

Outsourcing
The company’s proposals to outsource and potentially send offshore a large number of jobs is featured in an article in the Guardian today. View here.

‘BA Betrayal’
Many of you will have been aware of the ‘BA Betrayal’ initiative from Unite, which seeks to encourage BA to modify its approach to the crisis in aviation.

Earlier this week your senior GMB reps met with the senior Unite official responsible for this campaign and were impressed by the passion and enthusiasm behind it.

We would therefore encourage our members to check out the website and get involved. As ever we would welcome your feedback on this and any other topics

Take care, Stay strong.

Nadine Houghton
GMB National Officer