1,000 North BA staff asked to work free

Jun 17 2009 by Iain Laing, The Journal

BRITISH Airways has asked thousands of staff if they would like to work for nothing for up to a month to help the airline survive.

More than 30,000 workers in the UK, including more than 1,000 in the North East, were sent an email to ask them to volunteer for between one week and one month’s unpaid leave, or unpaid work.

Chief executive Willie Walsh has already agreed to work unpaid in July, forgoing his month’s salary of £61,000, and his finance director has followed suit after the company last month posted a record annual loss of £401m, partly because of higher fuel bills and other costs.

Mr Walsh said: “I am looking for every single part of the company to take part in some way in this cash-effective way of helping the company’s survival plan,” he said.

The airline has been in urgent talks in recent weeks with trade unions to find ways to save money and details of a pay and productivity deal are due to be announced today.

BA initially asked staff last month to volunteer for a month’s unpaid leave, or to work free for that time and more than 1,000 workers applied to do so. But yesterday the company asked staff to volunteer by the end of this month for between one week and one month of unpaid leave or unpaid work. The lost salary will be spread over three to six months.

A Unite spokesman said: “Willie Walsh can afford to work a month for free. Our members can’t.”

Other airlines, including Cathay Pacific, have launched similar schemes and most of their workforces have signed up.

Mike Emmott of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), said: “While some options may seem unattractive, particularly where they involve reduced income, many employees will conclude that the alternative of losing their job looks bleaker.”