BA boss Alex Cruz accuses Unite heads of snubbing 165 invitations to hold talks about job cuts 

The boss of British Airways has accused Len McCluskey’s Unite union of snubbing more than 165 invitations to meetings about the airline’s job cuts.

Chief executive Alex Cruz is at loggerheads with the union over BA’s plans to axe thousands of workers.

He has told his 42,000 staff that his aim is to save as many jobs as possible.

But he said his efforts are being stonewalled by the unions, who have rebuffed numerous requests to meet.

In an explosive leaked email seen by the Daily Mail, Mr Cruz also claims Left-winger Mr McCluskey, the leader of Unite, is wasting members’ subscriptions on an anti-BA campaign which trashes the brand.

Mr Cruz told staff: ‘We have sent them proposals in good faith, but have heard nothing. If you are represented by GMB or Unite, I encourage you to consider the position they are taking and ask them to come and talk with us.’

BA announced plans in April to cut up to 12,000 jobs and change terms and conditions for 30,000 staff.

Mr Cruz is understood to believe he could reduce the redundancies to 8,000 or 9,000 with union co-operation.

However, cuts on a large scale are inevitable because the business, which is owned by Anglo-Spanish giant IAG, is losing around £175million a week.

With the vast majority of its planes grounded since the virus struck, BA has been running at just five per cent of its normal levels during April and May.

Passenger numbers are not expected to reach pre-pandemic levels until 2023 or 2024.

Mr Cruz is convinced staff numbers need to be slashed to head off the short-term cash crisis and because BA will in future be a smaller operation.

The company has taken on £300million of loans through the Bank of England’s scheme to support large businesses through the pandemic.

However, it is up against overseas rivals which have been bailed out to a much larger extent by their governments.

‘BA does not have an absolute right to exist. There are major competitors poised and ready to take our business,’ Mr Cruz wrote. 

‘So it is really concerning to me that GMB and Unite refuse point blank to join any discussions about mitigating proposed redundancies.’ 

Mr Cruz added the company is already working ‘constructively’ with pilots’ union Balpa which is understood to have seen confidential details of BA’s financial state. 

Balpa officials are said to have had an ‘oh s**t’ moment when they realised the extent of the firm’s difficulties.

In his email, Mr Cruz added: ‘We are not in dispute with the unions. We need their ideas and we need them to represent you. That is what unions do when jobs are under threat. They don’t just walk away.’

Unite has launched a campaign called ‘BA Betrayal’. It claims the airline is exploiting the Covid-19 crisis and is motivated by ‘corporate greed’.

The union has projected anti-BA slogans at night-time on landmarks across the country including The Angel of the North, Marble Arch and Harrods in London and the Scottish Parliament.

Mr Cruz said he hopes Mr McCluskey and his team will ‘start attending [meetings with the airline] rather than spending members’ money on a PR campaign to undermine the British Airways brand’.

Mr McCluskey claims he wants to open discussions.

However, he has refused unless the company agrees to withdraw a Section 188 notice – part of a legally required process to start the countdown to the proposed redundancies.

BA argues it cannot afford to stop the clock because it is losing huge sums every week.

Mr McCluskey said: ‘BA is using the worst health crisis in a century as an opportunity to fire and rehire its workforce.

‘The workers that survive will be brought back on vastly inferior contracts. No other company has behaved in this way.

‘I have said repeatedly that my door is open and we are ready to have a sensible discussion at anytime. This is a company with a lot of cash, strong assets and sustainable debt.’