British Airways asks staff to work for free

The UK flag-carrier is offering its staff the option of working for between one and four weeks for free, with the reduction in pay packets spread over several months. Workers can also opt to take a month's unpaid leave. So far more than one thousand staff have signed up for part-time contracts or the unpaid leave alternative.

Chief executive Willie Walsh and finance director Keith Williams are themselves working without pay in July and Walsh said in the company newspaper, which broke the news, that "Our survival depends on everyone contributing to changes that permanently remove cost from every part of the business, and I would urge you to play your part."

Trade unions condemned the announcement, with a Unite spokesman saying "Willie Walsh can afford to work a month for free. Our members can't." BA has been in long-term negotiations with the unions to work out a package of job cuts, which could be as many as 2,000 of the airline's 14,000 cabin crew. This appears to be one way round the cuts and employees have until June 24 to volunteer for the unpaid work.

BA lost £401m last year and shelved its dividend after passenger numbers tumbled and oil prices leapt. As a result it is slashing its costs and this latest plan is one of several aimed at reducing outgoings.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING:

Mick Rix, a national officer from the GMB union, in the Daily Telegraph: "Most workers may consider this request if and when the company's executives take permanent and radical action to reduce their own remuneration packages."

Helen Pidd in the Guardian: "The only thing more surprising than the idea of a FTSE 100 company daring to ask its employees to work for nothing is the fact that many of its workers have already volunteered to do so."