BA accused of "industrial thuggery" by union boss

BA has been accused of “industrial thuggery” by Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union. Unite represents many of the airline’s cabin crew. BA has warned that the coronavirus pandemic is forcing it to cut jobs and renegotiate terms and conditions for remaining staff. Early in the crisis, the airline said it may make up to 12,000 of the airline’s 42,000 employees redundant. On Friday, Willie Walsh, the CE of BA’s parent company, IAG, said: “It will take until at least 2023 for passenger demand to recover to 2019 levels. Each airline has taken actions to adjust their business and reduce their cost base to reflect forecast demand in their markets not just to get through this crisis but to ensure they remain competitive in a structurally changed industry”. McCluskey accused Walsh of “thuggery of the worst industrial kind”. He said: “Because most of our members are furloughed, they are in a vulnerable position and [Mr Walsh] believes he can walk all over them. No other company in the rest of the UK has adopted this type of tactic, this scorched-earth approach. For months and months we’ve been making it clear to British Airways that of course we recognise they are in deep financial difficulties. The whole of the aviation sector is, and the whole of the manufacturing sector is, and we want to sit down and discuss how we can assist them getting through this crisis.”<br/>