British Airways (BA) yesterday sacked a second Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) shop steward ‘for his involvement’ in the unofficial strike last August against the locking out of Gate Gourmet catering workers.
When Gate Gourmet management locked out more than 700 workers on August 10th last year, more than 1,000 BA baggage handlers, drivers and other ground staff came out in sympathy strike action.
In response to yesterday’s sacking, the union repeated its earlier statement, made at the time of the first sacking: ‘The T&G is surprised and disappointed at these decisions.
‘We believe that there is no basis for serious disciplinary sanctions – let alone sackings – against our shop stewards.
‘We will fully exhaust the appeals process in line with British Airways procedure.
‘We remain fully committed to supporting our shop stewards at Heathrow.’
Picketing Gate Gourmet workers at Heathrow Airport were very angry to hear that a second BA shop steward has been sacked.
‘There should be national industrial action, at least for one day, a national strike,’ Mr Harbinder Singh told News Line.
‘And if they are not reinstated, there should be weekly strikes until they are.’
He continued: ‘From the first day we have said if we lose this fight then the union will lose and it would give the green light to other companies to do whatever they want and slavery will spread.
‘The union must win this fight and it must also defend the three British Airways shop stewards, who were suspended for coming out in sympathy with us and are now being sacked.
‘If they are sacked it is a big challenge to the whole trade union movement, it shows that the BA bosses are trying to kill the union.
‘They are being sacked for being trade union members.
‘The whole trade union movement must rise to this challenge.’
Fellow TGWU member Harbans sarovay said: ‘ We can’t let these fellow union members be victimised for helping us.
‘The whole union must take action to defend them.’
She added: ‘We are fighting all the time, we will never stop fighting and we are going to win.
‘We are on the picket line with no shelter. We are very cold and some of us are sick.
‘We’ve got no spare money, no spending money, it is very hard but we can’t let the company get away with what it did or the working class will be slaves.
‘And we can’t let the union leaders get away with their betrayal.
‘The union must fight for the members, not help the bosses.
‘Our conference in London on the 29th January is very important to discuss this and to work out what to do.’
Mrs Darshan Judge said: ‘I have worked at Gate Gourmet for eight years.
‘For no reason, they made me compulsorily redundant and the union leaders agreed.
‘This is a very critical time and our conference is to make sure the union fights for the members not the bosses.
‘The union must fight for us and it must fight for the BA shop stewards.’
BA said in a statement yesterday: ‘British Airways has dismissed a second employee for his involvement in the unlawful industrial action at Heathrow airport in August, 2005.
‘Three employees faced disciplinary proceedings as a result of the airline’s investigation into the walk-out by its Heathrow ground support staff last summer.
‘The airline announced in December that one of the employees had been dismissed and another had received a final written warning, a month’s suspension from work without pay and loss of staff air travel privileges.
‘The outcome of the third and final disciplinary proceeding means that three employees have been found guilty of gross misconduct following formal hearings.
‘The employees have the right to appeal the decisions.
‘The three employees were from the airline’s ground support unit at Heathrow, which consists of baggage handlers, loaders and bus drivers.
The unlawful industrial action on August 11 and August 12 led to the cancellation of 900 flights, disrupted the travel plans of 100,000 customers and cost the airline up to £45 million.’
BA noted: ‘There is a two-stage appeal process. On appeal, the sanction can be overturned or upheld.
‘The nature of the sanction can also be changed. An airline director would hear the second and final appeal.’
• Second news story
HAROON ASWAT TO BE EXTRADITED TO THE US
At Bow Street Magistrates court yesterday, District Judge Timothy Workman ruled that Haroon Aswat from Dewsbury, Yorkshire may be extradited to the US to face terror allegations.
The US alleges that Aswat tried to set up a ‘terrorist camp’ in Oregon between 1999 and 2000 to train people to fight in Afghanistan – a charge that local residents of nearby small town Bly, continue to ridicule.
After judgement was passed, Aswat’s barrister, Paul Bowen, said his client had asked him to say a few words to the London court.
Bowen said: ‘He wants to say that he is an innocent man, that he has nothing to hide and nothing to fear from a trial itself.
‘What he fears is the process he faces in the United States. He will be exercising his right to appeal to the high court.’
His solicitor Gareth Peirce described the case as ‘outrageous’.
A previous hearing last month was told Aswat could go to Guantanamo Bay if extradited, and a US legal expert had told the court that there was an ‘overwhelming risk’ of him being subjected to special measures such as solitary confinement.
But judge Workman said the court had received a diplomatic note from the US Embassy in London last month which gave assurances that Aswat would stand trial in a federal court in accordance with full rights and protections and would not be prosecuted by a military commission or treated as an enemy combatant.
Workman said: ‘Whilst the note does not provide any personal protection to this defendant I am satisfied that it does bind the government of the United States of America which in these terms includes the president.’
Home Secretary Clarke has up to two months to approve Aswat’s extradition to the US.
