<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>BA appeals to staff: Please work for free
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->LONDON: British Airways, which reported a record annual loss last month, said on Tuesday that it has asked its staff to work for free as part of its battle for 'survival' in tough market conditions.
The appeal to its British-based employees, which was featured in the company's staff magazine, asks workers to volunteer for between a week and a month in unpaid leave or in unpaid work. 'All options are voluntary, but we have already received a good response,' the airline said in a statement.
Chief executive Willie Walsh, who along with chief financial officer Keith Williams has promised to work for nothing next month, said the idea was part of the company's across the board cost-cutting measures.
'Many of you from across the airline are stepping up to help the company,' Mr Walsh said. 'I am looking for every single part of the company to take part in some way in this cash-effective way of helping the company's survival plan. It really counts.'
BA said the option meant employees would effectively volunteer to take a cut in base pay, with the lost income spread out over several months.
The company said last month that it would ask employees to consider working without pay.
BA, Europe's third-biggest airline by revenue, posted annual operating losses of £220 million (S$521.2 million) and scrapped its dividend last month, saying it had suffered from a downturn in air travel and forecast no immediate revival.
The Unite union, which represents thousands of BA ground and cabin crew, has given the proposal a chilly reception. The union said that while Mr Walsh might be able to afford working a month for free, its members could not. REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS, BLOOMBERG
KNN! We donch up pay u should be grateful liao loh! Comprain some more and we'll import more FTs to make you work for free! *chey*
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->LONDON: British Airways, which reported a record annual loss last month, said on Tuesday that it has asked its staff to work for free as part of its battle for 'survival' in tough market conditions.
The appeal to its British-based employees, which was featured in the company's staff magazine, asks workers to volunteer for between a week and a month in unpaid leave or in unpaid work. 'All options are voluntary, but we have already received a good response,' the airline said in a statement.
Chief executive Willie Walsh, who along with chief financial officer Keith Williams has promised to work for nothing next month, said the idea was part of the company's across the board cost-cutting measures.
'Many of you from across the airline are stepping up to help the company,' Mr Walsh said. 'I am looking for every single part of the company to take part in some way in this cash-effective way of helping the company's survival plan. It really counts.'
BA said the option meant employees would effectively volunteer to take a cut in base pay, with the lost income spread out over several months.
The company said last month that it would ask employees to consider working without pay.
BA, Europe's third-biggest airline by revenue, posted annual operating losses of £220 million (S$521.2 million) and scrapped its dividend last month, saying it had suffered from a downturn in air travel and forecast no immediate revival.
The Unite union, which represents thousands of BA ground and cabin crew, has given the proposal a chilly reception. The union said that while Mr Walsh might be able to afford working a month for free, its members could not. REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS, BLOOMBERG
KNN! We donch up pay u should be grateful liao loh! Comprain some more and we'll import more FTs to make you work for free! *chey*
