Unions want BWIA board, Aleong to go

Government has again come to the assistance of cash strapped BWIA but unions are not happy that the board and management remain untouched.

President of the Communication Transport Workers Union (CATTU) Jagdeo Jagroop said yesterday the union would have prefered if the board and management were changed. “They’ve again put money in these people’s hands and that to me is worrying,” he said. “I believe they have given in to the interest of the business sector.”

At a special Cabinet meeting yesterday, Government decided to offer a $116.8 million loan to BWIA. The loan comes with a number of conditions including that the board conduct a review of management, salaries of all employees and increased productivity by flight crews. Part of the loan will go toward paying about $55 million owed to workers retrenched in January.

Cabinet also met with representatives from the board, executive management, including president and CEO Conrad Aleong and unions. “We would have prefered to see a change of board and CEO because we feel the problem lies with management and the board has the final say,” Jagroop said. He also said while all salaries will be reviewed, management should bear the brunt of the cuts, not general staff. “Their salaries are already low and there has been no increase since 2001. I don’t see it as practical for general staff to get wage cuts,” he said.

The unions have asked to be part of the steering committee set up to review the airline. Communications director Clint Williams took a different line, saying that Government’s decision supports management’s approach in the past few months. “It demonstrates what we’ve been saying, that what the airline is experiencing is only in the shortrun,” he said and added that the review of management did not necessarily reflect badly on the executives: “the airline is in constant review of processes so it will always be looking at that.” As he was leaving the meeting, Aleong would only say that the decisions were, “very positive for BWIA”.