Union: BWIA left us in the air By Juhel Browne (Trinidad Guardian) Curtis John, acting president of the Aviation Communication and Allied Workers' Union, is still waiting on the BWIA executive to consult with him about plans to reduce staff at the airline. John said the airline was legally obliged to do so. "There was no consultation," he said. "With the collective bargaining agreement any decision that affects the employees who fall under our bargaining unit, the company is supposed to call and consult with us before implementing anything." ACAWU, which has a membership of 1,500, represents the majority of BWIA employees and the union has previously stated BWIA does not need to reduce staff. The other unions that represent BWIA employees are the Superintendents' Association, the Communication, Transport and General Workers' Union and the Trinidad and Tobago Pilots' Association. BWIA chief executive officer Conrad Aleong, said Tuesday the airline has begun talks with the unions about the impending job cuts. "That is incorrect," John said. He noted during the most recent talks between the union and BWIA, the airline was asking for a wage freeze for the 2001 to 2003 period as a measure meant to ensure there would be no lay-offs. John said he felt betrayed by BWIA when he learned of its intentions to implement job cuts, via media reports. Clint Williams, BWIA director, corporate communications, acknowledged the airline was required to consult with the unions whenever it wants to undertake job cuts and other cost-cutting measures. However, he said BWIA need not hold any consultations at this time since the executive was yet to decide on exactly when and how it would begin its restructuring programme. Furthermore, he said, the airline has been keeping in constant contact with the unions. "The unions have been kept abreast. No one has said from the restructuring exercise (team) what is going on." By January 30, BWIA was expected to give further details on its restructuring exercise. The only time BWIA contacted the ACAWU, John said, was to clarify the communication update it sent, which stated the airline will no longer be able to delay the implementation of the lay-offs. Williams said this was in keeping with the collective bargaining agreement and the update was released to keep the unions and the employees informed as to what options are being considered. "We are doing our best to keep communications very open. Before the communication (update) was sent out, they were told about it," he added. ACAWU members met on Thursday to determine how the union would deal with the impending lay-offs. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com ICQ: ICQ # 15836110 ICQ Pager: mailto:15836110@pager.icq.com escape email #!1 mailto:ejames@escape.ca yahoo email #2: mailto:triniroj@yahoo.com Yahoo Pager: triniroj Caribbean Brass & Soca Connection Group on Yahoo: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/caribsocabrass Caribbean Brass & Soca Connection Club Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeansocabrassconnection/ ******************************************************* Steel Expressions Orch http://www.escape.ca/~ejames/se/ email #1: mailto:steelexpressions@yahoo.com email #2: mailto:steelexpressions@home.com ******************************************************* The Trinbago Site of the Week: (Revellers Mas Band) http://www.revellers.com/ (Trini Revellers Mas Band) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://195.224.187.36/ *********************************************************