British Airways cabin crews are likely to receive a salary increase of between 10% and 15% as the carrier tries to mend strained employee relations after being dubbed a “national disgrace” for its handling of the pandemic’s workers.
Sean Doyle, the CEO of British Airways, and Sharon Graham, the new leader of the powerful Unite union, negotiated the agreement.
As part of a publicity campaign exposing the airline’s effort to cut employee terms and conditions, Graham invented the phrase “fire and rehire.”
Newer cabin crew will receive a 5% pay raise in March and then two bonus payments worth 5% of their base wage at the end of the year as part of the agreement.
Longer-serving flight attendants will get three incentive payments totaling 10% of their base compensation over the course of the year.
British Airways said it will strive to raise wages by 10% starting in 2023, and depending on how soon the company recovers from the pandemic’s residual impacts, the overall pay boost might reach 15%.
The pay offer also applies to contact center workers and other customer support workers who have been laid off as a result of the pandemic.
In an emailed statement, a BA spokesperson said of the pay offer: “We’ve been in touch with our operational colleagues to offer a gesture of thanks for their hard work during the pandemic.”
A powerful Parliamentary transportation committee found in June 2020 that British Airways’ treatment of its employees went “far below the standards we would expect from any business.”
After cutting 10,000 jobs, including 4,700 cabin staff, BA was dubbed a “national disgrace” by the Transportation Selection Committee.
As a result of the new terms and circumstances that were imposed, veteran crew members’ earnings were reduced by 15 to 35 percent.
The airline is now attempting to hire up to 3,000 more cabin crew members but is having difficulty filling positions.
Sean Doyle has stated his goal to mend employee relations, despite the fact that he faces an uphill task.
He recently admitted that an internal employee satisfaction survey made for “sobering reading” but claimed there was no more money available to increase wages.
