Ruth Cadbury Calls On BA to Talk To Striking Staff
Staff tell her their financial situation made worse by Brexit devaluation
Ruth Cadbury, the MP for Brentford and Isleworth, is supporting calls
for British Airways (BA) to engage in talks to resolve the industrial
dispute with its striking mixed fleet cabin crew staff. The Labour MP
has signed an Early Day Motion (162) supporting the workers, who are striking
over pay, and calls on the airline to engage in constructive relations
with the workers' union Unite to resolve the dispute.
BA has 'wet leased' nine aircraft, including pilots and cabin crew, from
Qatar Airways, to operate about 30 short- and medium-haul flights each
day during the current strike by crew from BA’s Mixed Fleet at Heathrow.
The previous strike took place 1-16 July, with the current strike from
19 July until 1 August.
Commenting on the ongoing dispute, Ruth Cadbury MP said: 'I recently met
cabin crew involved in this dispute who told me of the financial challenges
they face, I heard stories of waiting for cabin meals because they can’t
afford to buy food, a situation exacerbated by the Brexit pound devaluation
as meal allowances are not paid in local currency as other airlines do.
'I am concerned that Qatar Airways has been found in the past to be guilty
of systemic workplace sex discrimination, which included female cabin
crew being automatically sacked when becoming pregnant.
'Striking staff face having their travel and bonuses taken away and measures
that dock pay for the industrial action. The below minimum wage starting
salary of £12,721 highlights that there are unacceptable ways to
get around the National Minimum Wage requirements which requires improvements
to the law. '
July 29, 2017
