“Unite statement on British Airways furlough and employment negotiations”, 2 April 2020

Unite, the UK and Ireland’s largest union, which represents thousands of workers employed by British Airways, has…reached agreement with [British Airways] about how workers will be protected during the coronavirus crisis.

British Airways will introduce a modified version of the government’s job retention scheme. [W]orkers will be furloughed on 80 per cent of pay [but]..., unlike the government scheme, there will be no cap on earnings. Workers will be able to divert their pension contributions into their pay for a short period of time…,[t]here will be no unpaid temporary layoffs [and]…there will be no redundancies during this period and…redundancy processes that [have] already begun [will be]…halted.

Unite national officer for aviation Oliver Richardson: “[T]his is as good a deal as possible…, protect[ing]…jobs of BA staff and, as far as possible…,their pay. This is what can and should be done to protect workers during this unprecedented time…”. The deal will now be circulated to Unite’s members at British Airways for their final approval.