BWIA can’t pay severance

BWIA has promised to pay retrenched employees part of their salary until the airline can pay severance.

Employees, though, are saying the offer is not good enough. About 60 retrenched employees gathered outside BWIA’s office at Piarco yesterday to protest the fact that they have not received severance payments although they were due two weeks ago. BWIA management is saying the airline does not have the cash to pay the workers. Over 600 workers were retrenched in January, mostly from the maintenance and ramp departments.

Christopher Abraham, president of the Aviation Communication and Allied Workers Union (ACAWU) and Jagdeo Jagroop, president of Communication and Transport Workers Union (CATTU) met with BWIA management yesterday but were unable to get management to say when the severance will be paid. Union officials will be meeting with Trade Minister Ken Valley today, although the retrenched workers said they want a meeting with the Prime Minister and promised to go to Whitehall to meet Manning after Thursday’s Cabinet meeting.

After the meeting communications director Clint Williams said money was allocated for retrenchment in 2003 but the money has been used to meet commitments since the Gulf War started. The airline is again cash strapped because of a rise in cancellations over the past week. Williams said BWIA will also be speaking to financial institutions on behalf of retrenched employees, to assure them that the money will be paid.

Outside, ex-employees said they want the money, not letters of comfort. “They’re playing games with my severance, Didier Mora said, “I have children to send to school. I would like Mr Manning, just as how he supported the plan, to tell Mr Aleong to pay the people, because this is people on the breadline.” Last week Prime Minister Patrick Manning said he was prepared to let BWIA go under. This,  a day after the airline’s management met with him, asking for assistance during the drop in travel caused by the war in Iraq and promising to submit a new plan with more cost cutting measures.

Williams said the partial payment is to help the severed workers meet their commitments until Government responds to the new plan.  “It depends on what kind of response we get from the Government. We think we have a good plan and we think that with the revisions we’ve made to the plan it will be a valid case.” Meanwhile, some retrenched maintenance workers have been hired by Staffhire which has been performing maintenance.