{"id":29276,"date":"2021-06-24T11:44:02","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T10:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=29276"},"modified":"2021-06-24T18:09:21","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T17:09:21","slug":"the-time-to-act-is-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=29276","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098The time to act is now\u00e2\u20ac\u2122"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite joined unions and the wider aviation and travel industry in a remarkable cross-sector alliance that came out in force for a day of action on Wednesday (June 23), demanding government support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost in the travel industry — in airlines, at airports, travel agents, tour operators, and the wider supply chain including the aerospace sector — since the pandemic began. While other industries have begun to bounce back as coronavirus restrictions have eased, the travel sector, which still faces stringent restrictions, especially on international travel, has been left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Unite joined calls for a sector-specific support package for the aviation and travel industries and the extension of the furlough scheme until at least March next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UniteLive spoke to several members in the sector who attended the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Speak Up for Travel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 demo outside Parliament on Wednesday (June 23), which drew a large and diverse crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unite rep Antonio (pictured below), who works for the airline easyJet at Gatwick airport, explained just how difficult the last year has been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been really difficult since the pandemic started because we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been through a redundancy process and all the airlines have been affected by that,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bJobs have been destroyed and we need to rebuild the airline industry as soon as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got all the tools to do that \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we have vaccinations and the UK is one of the most vaccinated countries in the world,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bNow is the time to open for at least those who have been fully vaccinated and then we can start to rebuild the industry.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unite rep Peter Breslin, who is in the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s British Airways Stewards and Stewardesses Association (BASSA) branch, representing cabin crew at Heathrow Airport, also expressed grave concern for the future of the aviation industry, and told how he and his colleagues have suffered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOver the last year, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve lost more than 4,000 members because fire and rehire policy that happened last year,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bMy own partner lost his job. This year, because of the restrictions on international travel and the traffic light system, which wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t very clear, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re now facing more uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur crew members have been through a horrible time last year and you can feel that anxiety and tension start to rise again because there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no light at the end of the tunnel for aviation it seems,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Peter added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bFurlough ends in September and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re really worried about that because once furlough ends if there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a package of support for aviation we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to be in the situation we were in last year where cabin crew, which are the biggest part of the airline, are always the biggest target when it comes to cost savings and redundancies \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to face more redundancies unfortunately. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s my biggest fear.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unite easyJet rep Emma Bond (pictured below) echoed Peter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s experiences, and said she and her colleagues were at Wednesday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s event to plead with the government to support them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe main way that this crisis has affected me personally is my mental health — we went through a very difficult time last year,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said, adding that being a rep was especially stressful in a year when so many people lost their jobs. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe got through it but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a very, very long year and we just need help to get back in the air again and flying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need financial support and we need government to extend the furlough scheme beyond September,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Emma added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need people who are double vaccinated to be able to travel more freely and we need the traffic light system to be more clear and concise because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just devastating our industry.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unite Executive Council (EC) member for the South East, Dominic Rothwell, who represents  aviation workers in the region and at Gatwick Airport, also warned of the consequences for the sector if the government doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t step up to support it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite members who I represent in the South East have gone through a year of absolute hell,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bMany of them have lost their jobs, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re at risk of losing their homes, and mental health is a in a crisis in the industry. Unite members are crying out for support from the industry and from the UK government. Without their help, more jobs will be lost, more people will be made unemployed, more people will lose their homes. The time to act is now.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile UniteLive also heard from Unite member Mary (pictured below, right), a Blue Badge tour guide who, as a self-employed worker, has had her livelihood decimated because of the govenrment\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s failure to support people like her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMy work has been totally cancelled last year and this year too,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe have bookings for next year but are they going to come off? We really don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere have been some payments for self-employed guides, but I fell through the loopholes so I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get any compensation at all,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bColleagues haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been able to access any funding for the last year or this year as well so that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s two years of complete unemployment. We want the government to assist us by promoting this country for incoming tourism.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unite assistant general secretary for transport Diana Holland (pictured below), who also attended Wednesday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s event, said she was proud to stand together with \u00e2\u20ac\u015ban unprecedented alliance across aviation and travel\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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She noted that while coronavirus restrictions on travel are rightly in place to protect people during the pandemic, she added that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthey cannot be introduced without recognising the impact that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s having on our aviation and travel industries\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat we need is support,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Holland said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need transparency. There needs to be much clearer, very easy to follow ways in which countries are on the different traffic light system colours. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not right that nobody can plan when they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know and can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on. We need logistics to be properly worked out so that as soon as it is safer to travel, it can happen in a safe way and that we have processes that can protect everybody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFinally and absolutely we need extension to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Holland continued. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis industry is on a knife edge. It has withstood only by people losing their jobs, and having their pay, terms and conditions cut. It is not right that workers pay the price when these are government decisions. This is a moment in time when we need that support \u00e2\u20ac\u201c right now. On behalf of all the 90,000 aviation workers, members of Unite, the 30,000 aerospace workers, members of Unite \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the whole industry. We need to come together and say to government, stop ignoring us; we need support.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reporting by Martin Scanlon<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Text by Hajera Blagg<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Unite joined unions and the wider aviation and travel industry in a remarkable cross-sector alliance that came out in force for a day of action on Wednesday (June 23), demanding government support. Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost in the travel industry — in airlines, at airports, travel agents, tour operators, and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29277,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[589,1324,1319,1420,1670],"wps_subtitle":"Unite joins unions and wider travel industry in \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Speak Up for Travel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 day of action","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29276"}],"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=29276"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29288,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29276\/revisions\/29288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}