Quantas grounds all flights over jobs row

Link to the article at Channel 4 News

All 108 Qantas aircraft have been grounded indefinitely and staff are to be locked out, as the company responds to recent strikes over proposals to move jobs overseas.



The airline issued a statement this morning saying that all its domestic and international flights will be stopped until further notice. Flights in transit would continue to their destination, but all other flights would be stopped from taking off.

The company say it will lock-out staff from Monday morning until three unions behind recent industrial action move to "drop their extreme demands".

Qantas staff have been striking over infrastructure changes and proposals to move some operations to Asia.

Tens of thousands of passengers will be hit and the lock-out will cost the company an estimated $20m per day.

The airline is offering full refunds to any customers that are hit by the strike and has promised them flights at a later stage - although there is no indication at this time when flights will resume.

UK protest as Kraft takes Cadbury

Link to the video: Reuters Video

Feb 2 - Kraft set to seal Cadbury's deal, as workers fear future job losses and march on parliament in London.

Penny Tweedie reports.

Redundant employees complain about consultation

Link to the article: Channel 4 News

By Channel 4 News

As redundancies rise, Channel 4 News has discovered the number of employment tribunals citing a lack of consultation has grown.

Employers have a legal obligation to consult with their employees before making them redundant but administrators insist the law backs business that need to take swift action without consulting staff.

We have spoken to former employees at the Nortel telecommunications company, who were made redundant earlier this year.

They claim joint administrators from Ernst & Young ignored the law on consultation.

Nortel went into administration in January and two months later, more than 200 staff in Belfast and Maidenhead were told they were being made redundant without a consultation period.

In response, the administrators say they acted lawfully. They said they acted "in accordance with their duties in a way that is entirely usual when a company is in administration".

The law requires businesses to consult with the affected employees, then avoid, reduce and mitigate the impact of redundancies.

Ernst & Young insist they did not have time to consult with the employees because Nortel was facing serious financial difficulties.

In a statement, they wrote: "No consultation took place as it was not reasonably practicable to do so; employment legislation recognises that there are situations in which swift action needs to be taken."

Employers can claim an exemption from consulting with their employees in situations that are sudden or unexpected.

Maidenhead MP Theresa May, the shadow secretary of state for work and pensions, attended a meeting with Ernst & Young along some of the redundant employees.

She said: "What was of most conern in our discussion with Ernst & Young was a clear indication that they would be very happy to use this strategy again in the future.

"They showed no remorse about having used this approach and I feel the employees have been treated extremely badly."

The Tribunals Service has shown that wider complaints about employers failing to consult have risen 250 per cent from 4,480 in 2007/8 to 11,371 this year.

BA cabin crew's strike ballot

Link to the article: Channel 4 News

By Channel 4 News

In the middle of the postal dispute, 14,000 British Airways cabin crew are being balloted on industrial action in a row over new employment contracts. John Sparks reports.

BA wants to cut nearly 4,000 jobs, but said it would not reduce the salaries of current cabin crews, who are better paid than staff at other airlines in the country.

Three more days of nationwide postal strikes are also looming this week. Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union met today at the Trades Union Congress to try to settle their dispute over pay and modernisation.

Unite said 14,000 of its members at the airline will vote on whether to launch a campaign of action in protest over the imposition of the new employment contracts.

Derek Simpson, the union's joint general secretary, said: "BA management's determination to impose unacceptable contractual changes on cabin crew leaves us no alternative.

"We will strongly support our members if they vote for industrial action, while of course remaining ready to negotiate with the company.

"Negotiation, not imposition, is the only proper way to conduct industrial relations."

Cabin crew had already decided to hold an emergency meeting next Monday to decide whether to fight plans to cut jobs, freeze pay and introduce worse wages and conditions for new staff.

Thousands of workers are expected to attend the meeting, at Sandown Racecourse in Surrey, two weeks before the cuts come into effect. Two former sections of the Transport and General Workers Union - Bassa and Cabin Crew 89 - have joined forces for the first time in over 20 years to hold the joint meeting.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh met with Unite leaders earlier this month after which the airline issued a statement which said: "The discussion, about cabin crew pay and productivity issues, was open and frank."

Unite have complained that the changes being introduced next month constituted a "fundamental attack" on the jobs, wages and career prospects of all 14,000 cabin crew members of the union.

"They will not only hit the customer service core of the business, but will forever undermine BA's international reputation as a premier airline with premier crew providing a premier service.

"You are now being bullied into the very real possibility of accepting inferior contracts in just a few weeks' time," union leaders said in a letter to workers earlier this month.

"While we accept these are tough times for aviation generally, we do not accept that this is a company on its knees. This is still a prestigious airline with a high reputation to uphold not only at home, but also around the globe."

BA has announced plans to cut staff numbers by 3,700, in addition to a reduction of around 2,500 achieved between June 2008 and March 2009.

Talks between BA and Unite and the GMB have been continuing for months, with little sign of reaching an agreement. BA insisted it had to cut costs in the face of a downturn in travel caused by the recession.