Salsaga Blog

LONDON, April 8 /PRNewswire/ — Unite, the UK’s largest trade union that represents more than 4,300 cabincrew at Virgin Atlantic today said that the decision to put more than 320Virgin Atlantic staff ‘at risk’ of redundancy, was a sign of the increasingcompetition within the airline business. The Virgin Atlantic staff under threat of redundancy are in-flight BeautyTherapists and Unite is calling on Virgin to ensure that they are offeredre-training opportunities to take up other positions in the company and notface compulsory redundancy. Brian Boyd, Unite National Officer for Civil Aviation, said:”The so-called ‘Open Skies’ Agreement, consolidation within the sector,competition from low cost carriers and increasing fuel costs are just some ofthe factors which are now putting aviation jobs at risk.”The announcement by Virgin Atlantic is becoming all too familiar withinthe industry. We will now be seeking assurances from Virgin Atlantic thatthere will be no compulsory redundancies and that they will work with us toensure that all Unite members whose jobs are under threat are redeployedwithin the business.”We are also concerned that the Government’s flawed plans to replace AirPassenger Duty with the Plane Tax will increase pressure on the UK Aviationsector as a whole, and ultimately lead to more job loses. Unite will beraising its concerns with government in our forthcoming submission on theGovernments proposals.” Unite has recently been involved in Redundancy Consultations at XLAirways, Flyglobespan, and First Choice, which is a clear indication that theproblems facing the industry are similar and widespread. The government’s proposal for a new plane tax will mean that passengerswill be charged every time they step on a plane in the UK. Currently the AirPassenger Duty is applied as a one off tax for the complete journeyregardless of the number of times you have to change planes. Unite say thatthis will put further pressure on UK operators. Unite has more than 70,000 members spread across the UK Civil AviationSector, which includes some 24,000 Cabin Crew members.Unite the Union

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