Unite will fight to keep British Airways' Scottish base
7 October 2008
Unite, Britain's biggest union, has accused British Airways of
abandoning Britain in favour of London as the company announces it
will close its last regional base which is in Glasgow.
The union has vowed to fight the closure. Whilst there will be
no compulsory redundancies 120 jobs will be affected. Unite is
angry that the centralisation of services to Heathrow and Gatwick
is taking place at the expense of Britain's regional economy.
Last year British Airways outsourced its ground services across
the regional airports to Aviance and closed its regional base in
Manchester. The airline is also in the process of ending its
Manchester to New York services which is having a knock-on effect
on skilled engineering jobs.
Unite national officer, Steve Turner said, "Our members based at
Glasgow will be holding a mass meeting this Thursday and we are
going to fight to keep this Scottish base open. We believe British
Airways has ignored the consultation process and our members were
furious that they had to hear the leaked news over the radio. This
approach to employment relations is totally unacceptable. How can
BA call itself British when it is centralised in the South East of
England."
Unite national officer, Brian Boyd said,"This latest development
at British Airways is a further indication that the centralisation
of the business to Heathrow is fundamental to the company's long
term strategy. The message to employees is clear, if you want to
work for BA come to London. The expansion of Heathrow is intended
to provide an improved regional service, not to force people to
relocate to London."
ENDS
Contact: Ciaran Naidoo 07768 931 315
