Swissport workers call for answers over job losses

Monday 17 August 2020

Local cargo and baggage handlers are pushing for answers on whether up to 70 of them will lose their jobs.

Unite the Union, which represents many of the Swissport staff, has criticised the company for leaving staff in the dark for many months over whether they will be made redundant, claiming that "concerned staff" have not been given regular updates.

Swissport says the consultation process is still going on and that the number of staff that will be made redundant has yet to be decided.

A spokesperson for the firm told Express on Friday that they had sought to "regularly update" employees on the consultations’ progress at a national level, while their team in Jersey provided "regular local newsletters and updates."

"In line with the consultation process, local and senior management in Swissport have been in regular contact with Union partners locally and nationally," they added.

"We remain hopeful we will be able to reach an agreement that will help us to manage the severe, ongoing impact of COVID-19 and mitigate job losses as far as possible.”

The company's comments came after Unite the Union published an article claiming that 70 out of Swissport's 101 staff would be made redundant as a result of the Government's co-funded payroll scheme phasing out from the end of August. 

Swissport assured that no figure had yet been decided.

The union criticised the Government and Swissport’s senior management for not giving any updates to "concerned staff", saying the latter had failed to attend a number of pre-planned meetings with its representatives.

They also said that Swissport had a legal duty to try to minimise redundancies, but has so far failed to provide evidence of doing so. 

The firm rejected the claims saying they were currently engaged in national consultations with Union partners "around a range of measures aimed at mitigating job losses"

Unite Regional Officer Terry Keefe described the way staff are being treated was "scandalous".

“While Covid-19 and the collapse of Flybe has undoubtedly had a major impact on business, air travel to Jersey remains crucial to the island’s economy and is expected to recover by early next year," he added.

However, Swissport noted that according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), global passenger traffic is not expected to return to pre-covid-19 levels until 2024.

"The pandemic has devastated the aviation industry across the United Kingdom," the firm's spokesperson said. "The unfortunate fact is that there simply aren’t enough aircraft flying for our business to continue running as it did before the outbreak and we must adapt to this unwelcome reality."

Unite said they had asked the Government to liaise with Swissport to discuss further measures to maintain as many jobs as possible. 

Mr Keeffe said they would not only challenge what he described as the firm's "complete neglect of its loyal and hardworking staff" but also the Government, whom he said must stop "burying its head in the sand and provide support to prevent Swissport from carrying out permanent cutbacks in response to a temporary downturn".

Express has contacted the Government for a comment and is awaiting a reply.