Gate Gourmet and British Airways

The TSSA Execuive Committee recently wrote to Tony Woodley, General Secretary of the Transport & General Workers Union, to express their concern at the way in which Gate Gourmet has treated employees at London’s Heathrow Airport, who are also members of the TGWU.

The TSSA Executive Committee placed on record their solidarity with the sacked workers and wished them every success in their campaign for justice.

The EC considered that the dispute was orchestrated, no doubt as a result of a financial crisis but also because labour laws in Britain, which fail to conform to the International Labour Organisation conventions, make it easier for employers to treat their workers in such an unacceptable manner.

Few trade unionists will be surprised at the tactics adopted by the employer in this dispute, tactics which appear to have been detrimental both to Gate Gourmet as an employer and to the airline industry in general. Hopefully, in the light of such tactics, it is not being overly optimistic to hope that the Government might now amend the legislation that regulates the relationship between workers and their employers, legislation which has dreadfully failed to protect TGWU members at Gate Gourmet.

British Airways is a totally separate company and cannot be held directly responsible for the actions of Gate Gourmet. The majority of Gate Gourmet’s work is contracted from BA and Gate Gourmet was BA’s in-house catering wing until sold off. It therefore comes as no surprise to the EC that some BA workers have felt it necessary to take solidarity action in support of the workers sacked by the Gate Gourmet. The TSSA’s Executive Committee sympathises with the position in which those workers at BA found themselves in showing their solidarity.

For further information on the dispute visit the TGWU web site at www.tgwu.org.uk