Virgin unions join together for strong attack on Bain

Virgin’s relationship with unions appears to have broken down after eight organisations joined together to issue a strongly-worded rebuke of the airline’s new owner Bain. The unions, including the TWU and AFAP, said they were “concerned over the direction Virgin is taking” and appeared to suggest they are worried more staff cuts are coming because not enough aircraft are ready to fly. “The workforce won’t tolerate their working conditions being cut to the bone permanently because of a temporary crisis,” read the letter. “Workers stand ready to negotiate co-operatively but they will not accept a coarse plan to drive down labour, safety and service standards in the medium to long-term.” Bain beat out Cyrus Capital Partners in May to become the administrator’s preferred bidder for the airline and the decision was then rubber-stamped at a final creditors’ meeting on 4 September. The unions’ letter, sent on Tuesday, comes just a day before they will take their seat on a new advisory council along with Bain, which has been set up to give employees more of a voice on the running on the business.<br/>