British Airways set for summer of strikes
In a stereotypical Unions V Corporate UK it has been revealed that British Airways is readying itself for a summer of strikes after a redundancy plan was voted down by union members. The Unite union has been very vocal in its opposition to a redundancy plan which offered either pay cuts across the board or compulsory redundancies across all areas of the business.
BA chief executive Willie Walsh is no stranger to controversy with the Unite union although this time it appears as though he's doing it from a severely weakened financial position with the business in urgent need of a complete overhaul. While the unions have accused British Airways directors of bullying staff into redundancies or pay cuts the company has stated on more than one occasion that significant cost-cutting is required in the short to medium term. The company has around 40,000 employees and is rumoured to be looking at staff cuts around about the 10% level although there is fierce opposition from the unions.
As the UK recession shows no sign of lifting in the short to medium term we are set to see significant strike action in the run-up to the next general election as businesses struggle to meet costs and employees struggle to retain their jobs. In all honesty there are no particular winners in these situations.
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