{"id":24099,"date":"2020-10-06T16:46:46","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T15:46:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=24099"},"modified":"2020-10-06T19:03:42","modified_gmt":"2020-10-06T18:03:42","slug":"heathrow-is-exploiting-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=24099","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Heathrow is exploiting the pandemic\u00e2\u20ac\u2122"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At a meeting with Heathrow Airport Ltd (HAL) yesterday (Monday 5 October), MPs representing constituencies around the airport challenged chief executive officer John Holland-Kaye over the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to make permanent cuts to the pay, terms and conditions of thousands of employees.<\/p>\n

The MPs particularly criticised the airport for making these cuts permanent, rather than considering temporary changes to get through the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The workers face losing up to \u00c2\u01418,000 per year, around 25 per cent of their total income. Over 4,000 workers are affected by HAL\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proposals.<\/p>\n

The group of MPs included\u00c2\u00a0James Murray MP, Ealing North;\u00c2\u00a0Rt Hon John McDonnell MP, Hayes and Harlington;\u00c2\u00a0Ruth Cadbury MP, Brentford and Isleworth;\u00c2\u00a0Seema Malhotra MP, Feltham and Heston;\u00c2\u00a0Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP, Slough; and\u00c2\u00a0Virendra Sharma MP, Ealing, Southall.<\/p>\n

The MPs have been working closely with Unite to put pressure on airport bosses.<\/p>\n

Members of Unite employed directly by Heathrow, including security officers, engineers, airside operatives and firefighters, will begin balloting for industrial action this\u00c2\u00a0Thursday (8 October),\u00c2\u00a0after Heathrow decided to issue formal notice of their intention to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098fire and rehire\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 staff.<\/p>\n

The ballot closes on\u00c2\u00a0Thursday 5 November\u00c2\u00a0and if members vote for industrial action then strikes could begin later next month.<\/p>\n

James Murray MP said,\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere is no excuse for Heathrow making these damaging and permanent cuts to their employees\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 terms, conditions and pay. We have been pushing the government to help the aviation industry as one of those sectors hit hardest by the Covid-19 outbreak, but Heathrow needs to play its part too and think again.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098No excuse\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

John McDonnell MP said,\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s be clear Heathrow Ltd is exploiting the pandemic crisis to impose cuts in wages and terms of employment on its workers. There is no excuse for the company imposing permanent wage cuts when we know that this crisis is temporary. This is an act of bad faith.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

Seema Malhotra MP said,\u00c2\u00a0Many residents have been in touch concerned for their jobs and the future for themselves and their families. Heathrow should be a positive example that others follow. For a situation that is temporary, we shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be seeing permanent changes to terms and conditions. The answer must be through dialogue. I urge Heathrow to continue talks with the unions and to reach agreement.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

And Virenda Sharma MP said,\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHundreds of the lowest paid staff have been let go, Heathrow\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s commitment that there is a job for anyone who wants one is hollow when they cancel contracts leaving hundreds without work. If Heathrow are serious about supporting our local area then pay cuts will only be temporary and contractually pay will return to current levels when Heathrow again pays dividends.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

The support was welcomed by Unite.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe support of local MPs is warmly welcomed by our members who are facing losing their homes, being forced to downsize or being denied the chance to start a family due to the planned cuts in pay,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 commented Unite regional co-ordinating officer Wayne King said.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHeathrow Airport Ltd must take the concerns of MPs on board, withdraw its hire and fire proposals and return to the negotiating table,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he concluded.<\/p>\n

By Barckley Sumner <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a meeting with Heathrow Airport Ltd (HAL) yesterday (Monday 5 October), MPs representing constituencies around the airport challenged chief executive officer John Holland-Kaye over the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to make permanent cuts to the pay, terms and conditions of thousands of employees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[195,1415,609],"wps_subtitle":"MPs challenge Heathrow bosses over cuts to workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pay and conditions","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24099"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24099"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24101,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24099\/revisions\/24101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}