Heathrow bosses threaten thousands of staff with the sack if they refuse to take 15% pay cut during coronavirus crisis
- Employees at London Heathrow Airport are told to accept coronavirus pay cut
- ‘Dismissal and reinstatement might be the final step’ for anyone not agreeing
- Human resources chief Paula Stannett sends strongly-worded memo to staff
- She said airport chiefs are ‘not expecting anyone to opt out’ of the reductions
Staff at London Heathrow Airport face being sacked if they refuse to accept a 15 per cent pay cut during the coronavirus pandemic.
Thousands of employees at Britain’s busiest airport have been told that ‘dismissal and reinstatement might be the final step’ for anyone not agreeing to the reduction.
Human resources chief Paula Stannett sent a strongly-worded memo to staff saying they are ‘not expecting anyone to opt out’ of the cuts, reported Sky News.
London Heathrow Airport’s human resources chief Paula Stannett (pictured at an event at Stockley Park Golf Club in November 2019) sent a strongly-worded memo to staff
Ms Stannett, 54, wrote: ‘There will be consequences if colleagues do not accept the revised terms as it will mean that we have to make further job cuts.
‘It will also have consequences for those colleagues who do not wish to participate.’
The airport has already cut the pay of unionised staff a 10 per cent pay cut on unionised and intends to impose redundancy on a quarter of its senior managers.
But Ms Stannett said her proposal is that we should ‘offer furlough followed by voluntary severance for colleagues who do not want to take a pay reduction’.
The empty forecourt outside Terminal Three at London Heathrow Airport on Monday
She continued: ‘In the unlikely case that colleagues continue to refuse to take part, dismissal and reinstatement might be the final step.
‘Obviously that is something I am keen to avoid, although I can confirm that is an option that is legally available to the company to take.’
It comes as communities in swathes of London and surrounding areas enjoy a week without planes flying overhead after Heathrow closed one of its runways.
The airport usually uses one runway for take-offs and the other for landings, but from Monday it has used one strip for both functions due to the collapse in flights.
A British Airways plane prepares to take off from the northern runway at Heathrow on Monday
The runway being used will alternate each week, giving many people living under flight paths seven days of respite for the first time in decades.
This week sees the northern runway open but only around a tenth of Heathrow’s typical 1,300 daily combined take-offs and landings are operating.
Airlines have grounded most of their fleets as demand for travel has plummeted because of the coronavirus pandemic. Heathrow has also shut two terminals.
A Heathrow spokesman told MailOnline: ‘The global impacts of Covid-19 have been sudden and significant, including those on the aviation industry.
‘Heathrow is prioritising the protection of jobs whilst working to keep Britain’s front door safely open for people requiring repatriation and vital medical supplies needed during this crisis.
‘In order to protect as many jobs as possible, we have had to make difficult decisions to reduce our cost base including cancelling executive pay, freezing recruitment and reviewing all capital projects.
‘Last month, our union partners confirmed that their members have agreed on a temporary 10 per cent pay cut in salary and allowances.
‘It is only right that similar pay reductions are taken on by everyone in the business as we fight to ringfence as many jobs in the future and play our part in protecting as many colleagues as possible.’