British Airways asks staff to work unpaid for up to a month

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/06/16/british.airways.work.free/index.html

British Airways employees were asked Tuesday from their employers to work for free up to four weeks.

Of the 40,000 employed by British Airways, thousands received an unusual e-mail asking them to take a leave from their work with no pay. They were also given the option to work but for free. The Chief Executive Willie Walsh declared 'absolutely no signs of recovery" in the airline industry. For high end jobs a week without work might seem like a vacation, but the handy man and women don't see the same satisfaction.

"It's all well and good for Willie Walsh to say he's prepared to work for free when he earns four times in a month what they do in a pear," said Ciaran Naidoo, a spokesman for Unite. Last month the airline reached a new high of losses of $656 million.

The elite airlines are losing customers' to cheaper rivals causing British Airways to change its company strategy that consists reducing its capacity by four percent and place sixteen aircrafts in the hangers.



I would love to follow this story throughout the next four weeks and on because I am curious with what happens to the lower end employees who work and who take the unpaid leave. If I were one of the employees, I would almost feel obligated to continue to work because I would worry if I didn’t and the company needed to let people go in the future I would be first on the chopping block. I know British Airways is trying to save jobs and see this as a possible way but with not guaranteed benefits to work I wouldn’t blame any worker if they didn’t show up.