EasyJets staff oppose bailout if curbs on terms are to stay – Evening Standard

Thousands of staff at easyJet have signed a petition to the government not to grant the airline its expected bailout until they rescind draconian curbs to staffs terms and conditions.

The Government is planning a multi-billion pound bailout of the industry and has reportedly hired Rothschild to scrutinise airlines accounts to work out how it should be done.

But easyJet staff have reacted furiously to chief operating officer Peter Bellews proposals for three months unpaid leave and what they called a complete retraction of benefits and collective agreements through to November 2021.

The staff petition filed to Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary, describes removal of staff benefits, crew food, agreed roster patterns and a complete decimation of current working conditions agreed by trade unions over many years.

So far, 17,490 have signed the online petition. Although it is impossible to tell how many of those are easyJet staff, a large proportion are thought to be.

The airline looks set to be in the frontline of companies bracing for difficult negotiations with its workforce as they attempt to slash overheads to keep themselves alive during unprecedented collapse in revenues.

Easyjet And British Airways Scale Back Flights Due To Coronavirus Travel Restrictions

An EasyJet spokeswoman said: easyJet continues to consult with its employee representatives in the UK to discuss how they can help the airline navigate through these unprecedented times.Like all airlines,we are taking every action to remove cost and non-critical expenditure from the business at every level to help mitigate the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sky News reported airlines met Shapps this week to demand measures including a state-backed credit facility to tide them over, a freeze on air traffic control charges totalling hundreds of millions of pounds and abolition of air passenger duty.

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EasyJets staff oppose bailout if curbs on terms are to stay - Evening Standard