Heathrow's Gate Gourmet no stranger to industrial dispute.
mini mouse | 12.08.2005 17:52 | Globalisation | London
As the blame for the Heathrow snarl up gets laid on the shoulders of so called wild-cat strikers it's worth taking a look at the record of Gate Gourmet, the airline catering business whose loudspeaker sackings started the whole thing.
In 2001, Australasian airline Ansett collapsed owing Gate Gourmet Australia a A$26M. GGA followed suit throwing its staff out of work owing them A$22M.
Funny thing was, in 1999 Ansett had sold its loss making catering division to Gate Gourmet. Swissair - of which it was a subsidiary - set up a second subsidiary, Gate Gourmet Australia and transferred the business to them.
When accepting the employment offer from GGA all former Ansett employees received a letter on GGI letterhead, which welcomed them to GGI, a member of the SAirGroup, "not just a company but a family of 30,000 employees in 34 countries around the world."
Workers' spokesman John Stamios said at the time, "We were always under the impression we were one company.
"But all of a sudden we're alone. There's, you know - you're by yourself now. One minute you're worldwide, and the next minute you're a drop in the ocean".
Gate Gourmet followed this up by taking on the Teamsters in the US. A December 2004 press release announced:
"Gate Gourmet’s proposal for a nationwide contract covering all its Teamster units is so bad that it serves as an example of the destructive mindset of some managers these days.
"The company wants to gut contract language on seniority, subcontracting and Union activity and access at the workplace. The company also proposes wage cuts of six to seven dollars an hour. The company’s proposal calls for fewer holidays, fewer sick days and less vacation pay and an end to any benefits for part-timers. On top of this heap of abuse, the company wants to double to triple its employees’ healthcare costs as of January 1, 2005".
This year it was the UK's turn. Costcutting sackings were perceived by unions as a sham, as no management grades were involved. Gate Gourmet responded by promoting 147 shop floor workers, only to make them redundant. And then brought in 130 "seasonal workers" - temporary staff without benefits or job security - to help get the work done.
When workers turned up for the afternoon shift they were, according to TGWU, "sacked by megaphone", adding " it appeared to be clear that the company had planned every move today by having the sacking letters prepared in advance, hiring in an outside security company and alerting the police".
As tens of thousands of passengers milled around Heathrow today, BA's Rod Eddington said "This is not our dispute", whilst Gate Gourmet director Richard Wells told the BBC: "What is happening here today is not about Gate Gourmet staff, it's the fact that BA staff are not working".
The irony is that British Airways used to control its own catering until 1997 when it sold its operation and transferred all its 1200 staff - 2 years prior to the Ansett collapse - to Gate Gourmet.
Funny thing was, in 1999 Ansett had sold its loss making catering division to Gate Gourmet. Swissair - of which it was a subsidiary - set up a second subsidiary, Gate Gourmet Australia and transferred the business to them.
When accepting the employment offer from GGA all former Ansett employees received a letter on GGI letterhead, which welcomed them to GGI, a member of the SAirGroup, "not just a company but a family of 30,000 employees in 34 countries around the world."
Workers' spokesman John Stamios said at the time, "We were always under the impression we were one company.
"But all of a sudden we're alone. There's, you know - you're by yourself now. One minute you're worldwide, and the next minute you're a drop in the ocean".
Gate Gourmet followed this up by taking on the Teamsters in the US. A December 2004 press release announced:
"Gate Gourmet’s proposal for a nationwide contract covering all its Teamster units is so bad that it serves as an example of the destructive mindset of some managers these days.
"The company wants to gut contract language on seniority, subcontracting and Union activity and access at the workplace. The company also proposes wage cuts of six to seven dollars an hour. The company’s proposal calls for fewer holidays, fewer sick days and less vacation pay and an end to any benefits for part-timers. On top of this heap of abuse, the company wants to double to triple its employees’ healthcare costs as of January 1, 2005".
This year it was the UK's turn. Costcutting sackings were perceived by unions as a sham, as no management grades were involved. Gate Gourmet responded by promoting 147 shop floor workers, only to make them redundant. And then brought in 130 "seasonal workers" - temporary staff without benefits or job security - to help get the work done.
When workers turned up for the afternoon shift they were, according to TGWU, "sacked by megaphone", adding " it appeared to be clear that the company had planned every move today by having the sacking letters prepared in advance, hiring in an outside security company and alerting the police".
As tens of thousands of passengers milled around Heathrow today, BA's Rod Eddington said "This is not our dispute", whilst Gate Gourmet director Richard Wells told the BBC: "What is happening here today is not about Gate Gourmet staff, it's the fact that BA staff are not working".
The irony is that British Airways used to control its own catering until 1997 when it sold its operation and transferred all its 1200 staff - 2 years prior to the Ansett collapse - to Gate Gourmet.
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