Mullins blasts British Airways
By Charlie Mullins, published 1 year ago.
Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins is horrified by British Airways' request to staff that they work for free for up to a month to help the cash-strapped company.
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Mullins says he would never ask his employees to do such a thing. “Willie Walsh and his boardroom mates got the airline into this state, so it’s only right that they should take the hit for messing it up. He gets paid the big money to make the important decisions, that’s how it works!” Mullins says. "If the airline is going down it’s these guys who should go, and I don’t mean just for a month – clear the whole useless lot of them out.”
Walsh is not drawing a salary during July at a personal expense of £62,000, based on his annual pay of £743,000. Mullins isn’t impressed: “I bet his bank won’t foreclose on his mortgage and his family won’t go without. I am flabbergasted he’s got the cheek to even suggest this."
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1 comment.
George 1 year ago.
I can, sadly, see industrial action blighting many people's holidays as they leave the UK. Why? Well I fear we're about to go on strike.
I have been a BA employee for 26 years. I like dealing with passengers and I like working for BA. Let me rephrase that. I used to like working for BA. But I feel that if I was asked to vote to strike I would have no choice this time.
Why? Two words. Willie Walsh.
The press in the last few days has been briefed against us. They say we earn "too much". I don't think we do. We are not temporary staff, here for the short term. We are here to have a career delivering a professional service to loyal passengers. Unlike some of our senior managers who come in, make blunders (we made a loss of £400m in the last financial year) and leave with six-figure pay-offs.
Applications for short term voluntary unpaid leave (STVUL) and voluntary unpaid work (VUW) need to be received by June 24... there will be further opportunities to apply, but I urge you to take action now."
Read the BA e-mail that introduced the latest recession acronym...
So how did a company such as BA make a record annual loss of £400m? Here's what I think are the facts.
BA blames the rise in fuel costs. Fact: Its hedging figure - the amount it agreed to pay for future fuel - was poor.
BA blames employee costs. Fact: It benchmarks us against UK low-cost airlines but charges passengers premium fares. We are paid less than the other major European carriers.
Fact: BA has over the last 18 months paid hundreds of millions in illegal fuel and cargo price-fixing fines.
BA hailed Terminal 5 as the way ahead. Fact: The fiasco was a national embarrassment and is said to have cost us as much as £50m.
BA boss Willie Walsh
If all the above mistakes were not made BA would have in fact posted a healthy profit last year. These mistakes, for many of the millions of small shareholders and me, are the responsibility of chief executive Mr Walsh and the board.
They've asked us ''to help our airline survive''. We don't mind helping out when we can. But how can Mr Walsh get the chance to earn what he will in the next financial year - while asking his staff to take pay cuts, and now work for free?
Why should we, after all of Mr Walsh's blunders? The majority of his 40,000 staff are not in a position to work for free with the commitments of mortgages and looking after their families. Building societies and banks do not let you miss your payments.
I fear Mr Walsh could ruin our once great airline.
And when he is gone, who's then going to be left to pick up the pieces? The staff.