Unite slam BA decision to close Glasgow base
08.10.08
Unite, Britain's biggest union, has accused British Airways of abandoning Britain in favour of London after the airline announced it will close its last regional base at Glasgow Airport. Whilst there will be no compulsory redundancies connected with the closure, 120 jobs will be affected. The union has vowed to fight the closure.
Unite is angry that the centralisation of services to Heathrow and Gatwick is taking place at the expense of Britain's regional economy. Last year BA outsourced its ground services across the regional airports to Aviance and closed its regional base in Manchester. The airline is also in the process of ending its Manchester to New York services.
Unite national officer, Steve Turner said: ‘Our members based at Glasgow Air;port will be holding a mass meeting this Thursday and we are going to fight to keep this Scottish base open. We believe BA has ignored the consultation process and our members were furious that they had to hear the leaked news over the radio. How can BA call itself British when it is centralised in the South East of England.’
‘This latest development is a further indication that the centralisation of the business to Heathrow is fundamental to the airlines long term strategy. The message to employees is clear, if you want to work for BA come to London. The expansion of Heathrow is intended to provide an improved regional service, not to force people to relocate to London.’
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