Prison staff industrial action

SIR – The rail strikes taking place this week are ostensibly to secure the future of rail workers. Unfortunately, it is more likely that they will have the opposite effect. Numbers of passengers dropped sharply due to the pandemic. Now, just as they are showing some signs of recovery, passengers are facing the possibility of months of disruption. Those who use the railways regularly will think twice about spending hard-earned cash on season tickets. The popularity of commuting by car and working from home could well see passengers now desert the railways, never to return. Jonathan Mann SIR – Union bosses love strikes. They justify their high salaries at the expense of their members. All strikes (like all wars) are resolved around the negotiating table. Thus a strike, like a war, is futile and supremely expensive both to the participants and the country. It achieves nothing that couldn’t have been negotiated by men of integrity in the first place. G M E Barber SIR – … [Read more...] about Letters: Weeks of rail strikes could prove devastating for an outmoded and faltering industry

R Kelly is suing the Metropolitan Center Brooklyn for placing him on suicide watch due to being a ‘high-profile inmate’ and for ‘purely punitive reasons’, says his lawyer. The I Believe I Can Fly singer was sentenced to 30 years in prison last week after being convicted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges. He faced life behind bars for masterminding an elaborate scheme to entice and sexually exploit young aspiring singers and underage children. The producer was previously found guilty on all nine counts against him, including multiple counts of racketeering , with the charges relating to bribery and forced labour, by a jury in September last year. Kelly – who denied all charges – was also found in violation of an anti-sex trafficking law known as the Mann Act. The disgraced performer and producer is now suing MDC Brooklyn – the detention centre where he is being held – for placing him on suicide watch as a form of ‘cruel and unusual … [Read more...] about R Kelly sues prison for placing him on suicide watch for ‘punitive reasons’, alleges lawyer

Summer holidays are under threat as thousands more British Airways workers could go on strike unless the airline grants pay rises. Check-in staff at Heathrow Airport have already voted to walk out in a dispute over pay . Unite the Union has now said 16,000 BA workers, ranging from cabin crew to engineers, could join them. In a consultative ballot of its 16,000 BA members, Unite secured an overwhelming majority in favour of potential strike action . If it fails to reach an agreement with BA, the union will formally ballot its members. Unite accused the airline of damaging staff morale after “two years of job and pay cuts”. A spokesman for the union said: “British Airways' management now can no longer ignore the universal discontent across their own workforce, in the way they have ignored the needs of their own customers. “BA customers know first-hand that the airline is in chaos and that service levels are suffering as a direct result of its own previous disastrous … [Read more...] about Summer holidays in jeopardy as thousands of British Airways staff threaten strike

Instead of looking forward to the great British getaway, families up and down the country are starting to fear the prospect of jetting off abroad this summer. Far from a relaxing break, parents are now facing the prospect of entertaining children as families wait in long queues that snake out of airport terminal buildings hoping that they will make the gate in time. And they might end up being the lucky ones. Plenty of holidaymakers may not make it abroad at all, as airlines continue to cancel flights every day with alarming regularity. Whether it be standing in line waiting to get away, or stuck at home on the sofa because of a cancellation, Britons will rightly ask what on earth has gone wrong this summer? Why is it that after two barren years during the pandemic, airlines and airports can not get their act together? Unsurprisingly, there is not one simple explanation. Aviation bosses have been grappling with a cocktail of problems that includes staff shortages, … [Read more...] about How the great British getaway became a holiday from hell

T he American owners of Boots may revive plans for stock market float next year after scrapping the sale of Britain’s biggest chemist to a Wall Street buyout fund and Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani. Walgreens, which merged with Boots in 2014 in a deal worth £9bn, said none of the offers for the “adequately reflects the high potential value of Boots and No7 Beauty Company”. The Illinois-headquartered company said bidders had struggled to arrange bank loans to buy Boots after financial markets “suffered unexpected and dramatic change”. Private equity fund Apollo and Mr Ambani had been in pole position to acquire Boots after Walgreens chairman Stefano Pessina put the business up for sale in January. But a £5bn approach — considerably lower than the £7bn Mr Pessina is said to have wanted — fell through. Ornella Barra, Boots operating chief, wrote to the company’s 56,000 staff saying she was “happy to confirm that it has been decided that Boots and No7 Beauty Company will … [Read more...] about Boots stock market float back on the table as £5bn sale collapses

As Britain baked in record temperatures nine days ago, easyJet’s top brass was feeling the heat from investors. The great and the good of the City had been invited by HSBC to attend a virtual “fireside chat” between Andrew Lobbenberg, a prominent aviation analyst, and Peter Bellew, easyJet’s operating head. The timing could hardly have been worse. Since Easter, easyJet and its airline rivals have been bombarded with criticism over chaotic scenes at Britain’s airports. Queues snaking out of terminal buildings, last-minute cancellations and passengers stranded abroad have become commonplace, heaping misery on holiday makers starved of trips abroad for nearly two years. On June 17, faced with being overwhelmed during the crucial summer months, Gatwick took the unprecedented step to place a restriction on flights in and out of the airport . With the airport its biggest base, the move would have a profound impact on easyJet’s summer, too. Under pressure from investors … [Read more...] about Nervous summer for easyJet as post-pandemic boom fails to take off

This should be a moment of great anticipation. For countless holidaymakers up and down the land, July signals the beginning of the summer escape – of a chance to get away, explore and relax, perhaps for the first time since the pandemic brought such significant restrictions. Instead, what many travellers feel in Britain at the moment is anxiety and frustration. For those heading to airports, the months leading up to their journeys are fretted with worry that flights will be rearranged or simply cancelled, with compensation often hard to claim. If they do get to the terminal as planned, delays are frequent and cancellations still possible even at the last minute. When they return, they can face huge waits for their baggage. Far from the joyful experience it’s meant to be, going on holiday this summer will too often be a story of disappointment and broken dreams. It’s not hard to see the problem. During the pandemic, airlines were swift to cut back on staff. BA fired 10,000 early in … [Read more...] about Britain can’t afford a summer of travel chaos

Rail chiefs are bracing for trade unions to intensify their campaign of industrial action later this month with concerted action leaving as little as one in 10 trains running on strike days. Senior industry figures fear the rail sector’s three main unions will stage walkouts on consecutive days - elongating strike action by a week or more while minimising the impact on lost wages for its members on strike days. Bosses are preparing for the Rail, Maritime and Transport workers union (RMT), Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), and Aslef, the drivers’ union, to stagger strikes that would inflict maximum disruption on passengers.   The trio's industrial action could run one after another, causing disruption for days on end. Even if there are gaps between strikes, passengers face reduced service on so-called “shoulder days” when only 60pc of trains typically run. Aslef has mostly stayed out of nationwide strike action so far, but rail insiders are wary of the union stepping … [Read more...] about Passengers face new wave of summer rail strikes

Almost half of insurance policies don't protect holidaymakers from cancellations caused by industrial action, the consumer group Which? has found. Its analysis of 199 packages offered by 71 providers found that 40% did not offer cover for strike action. Travellers are being warned to brace for chaos this summer as unions vote to strike in a fight for better pay and working conditions. More than 700 BA check-in staff and ground-handling agents at Heathrow could walk out at the height of the summer season after they recently voted to strike . Meanwhile, easyJet workers in Spain have said they will strike sporadically throughout July, as unions in France, Italy, and Portugal continue to clash with airlines and airports, raising the prospect of further industrial action. Advertisement Taken together, the situation paints a bleak picture for travellers this summer. Many are understandably looking for protection: insurance that will cover them if … [Read more...] about Nearly half of travel insurance policies don’t protect against strikes, according to Which?

Tens of thousands of BT workers are to walk out in a national strike for the first time since being privatised under Margaret Thatcher following a row over pay. Some 30,000 workers at Openreach and 9,000 call centre staff have voted to strike against what they described as an “unjust” and “unsustainable” wage deal. However, a ballot of staff working at BT’s mobile subsidiary EE failed to reach the legal threshold of 50pc. BT has offered staff an average pay rise of 5pc. Some of its lowest paid workers have been offered an increase of 8pc. Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), said that BT must table a “significantly improved” offer by next week or strike dates will be set. He said: “Our members were never going to accept this imposition. BT Group thought they could get away with bullying treatment – they were wrong.” A spokesman for BT said: “BT Group awarded its highest pay rise for frontline colleagues in more than 20 years. “At the same … [Read more...] about BT workers to strike for first time since Thatcher privatisation