Workers reject BWIA rescue plan by Orion Ganase and Darryl Heeralal Express 11.01.02 Though he said he didn=92t expect the airline to fold today, BWIA president= =20 and chief executive officer Conrad Aleong said last night he didn=92t know= =20 how long the airline=92s creditors would wait for payment. This was his=20 reaction to the rejection by two trade unions of the airline=92s proposals= to=20 help cut costs by US$300,000 monthly. He noted that he had informed the=20 four unions that if by midnight on October 31 the airline was unable to cut= =20 its total monthly cost by US$1 million, it would be in the hands of its=20 creditors. =93I don=92t know when the creditors will lose patience,=94 he= told=20 reporters at Crown Point International Airport, Tobago. Earlier in the day,= =20 two unions representing general staff=97CATTU and ACAWU=97 announced that= they=20 would not be accepting the majority of the airline=92s proposed=20 concessions. This was the result of a vote taken by workers on Wednesday=20 night at Centre of Excellence in Macoya who rejected the airline=92s= proposed=20 concessions for sick-leave, vacation leave, overtime rates and subsistence= =20 allowances. In fact, workers only agreed to the 50-50 meal chits concession. Christopher Abraham, president of Aviation, Communication and Allied=20 Workers Union (ACAWU), said that the union had received a =93clear mandate= =20 from members=94 that indicated that workers would not be able to assist in= =20 the recovery plan devised by BWIA management. This plan, according to=20 Abraham, would result in members being in a disadvantaged position. Flight= =20 attendants and middle managers accepted most of the concessions proposed by= =20 the airline. Captain Simon Kelshall, of the Airline Pilots Association,=20 said last night he could not give details of their position but said it was= =20 a proposal with which the company and pilots would both be =93happy=94. He= said=20 the proposal was a mixture of suggestions from BWIA and the pilots Aleong did admit last night that the pilots=92 position looked =93promising= =94.=20 CATU and ACAWU said they would be willing to forgo wage increases for the=20 next three years and would be willing to listen to other concession=20 proposals to see if they could contribute to cost reduction. Lana Benoit,=20 representing ACAWU=92s flight attendants, said more than 100 attendants were= =20 present at the ballot and several of the proposed concessions had been=20 agreed to, namely the three-day London, the removal of hot meals for=20 flights less than seven hours, and payment of time and a half for work on=20 off-days. Benoit said the attendants did not agree to the airline=92s proposal of a=20 14-hour duty limit as it was against current Trinidad and Tobago civil=20 aviation regulations. They also rejected the five-day reduction of annual=20 leave, saying they needed the time off due to the stressful nature of the=20 job. Benoit said the concessions agreed to were the =93best we can do at=20 this moment=94. Theo Oliver, president of the Superintendents Association= =20 (which represents middle management), agreed to concessions that would=20 yield US$16,000 a month, US$6,000 more than the US$10,000 savings the=20 airline had asked for. However, the concessions were given on the=20 condition that middle management would be reimbursed for its sacrifices in= =20 2004. BWIA=92s corporate communications manager, Clint Williams, told the Express= =20 the airline would now have to look at proposals and concessions made by the= =20 unions and put together a presentation to make to the Board of Directors. Benoit said it would be wrong to blame the employees for BWIA=92s current=20 financial situation as it was the responsibility of management to properly= =20 manage the affairs of the company. Abraham added that BWIA =93was= announcing=20 profits every year consecutively. We are not responsible if they were not=20 paying bills or not paying leases=94. He continued: =93They were making= people=20 believe that everything was nice when there was a cancer eating away at the= =20 financial stability of the company.=94 Abraham said Aleong had presented=20 himself as the hero of the airline saving it from the heavy losses it had=20 experienced while it was a public corporation, and was now trying to use=20 the trade unions and staff as a scapegoat. Jagdeo Jagoo, president of CATTU, said the workers=92 rejection of the=20 concessions did not mean that the workers were not committed to the=20 airline, pointing out that in 1994 workers gave up $189 million of their=20 pension plan to liquidate the airline. =93Which other stakeholder ever gave= =20 as much?=94 he asked. Aleong said last night he still had =93confidence that= =20 the employees will come through when the chips are down=94. Meanwhile, Prime= =20 Minister Patrick Manning reiterated his position yesterday that the=20 Government would not provide any financial assistance to BWIA unless the=20 stakeholders showed that they were willing to make sacrifices. Asked if=20 calls for the removal of the airline=92s management would be forthcoming in= =20 the current circumstances, Manning responded: =93Well, we will see, we will= =20 see.=94 He added: =93No possibility is ruled out at this time.=94 =97with= reporting=20 by Richard Lord The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (I95.5FM) http://www.i955fm.com (Radio Station I95.5FM) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************