Headlines:
| Air J sold to Spirit Airlines? |
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| Saturday, 04 July 2009 | |
 Two of
the trade unions which represent Air Jamaica
workers have reacted angrily to a newspaper report that the national carrier
has been sold to United States
based carrier Spirit Airlines. The story has raised the ire of union leaders who have been at odds with the Government over the poor communication of plans to sell the airline and how workers will be affected. According to the Gleaner story, Air Jamaica has been sold to the owners of Spirit Airlines and the name of the national airline may be changed. This has angered Vice President of the National Workers Union, (NWU) Granville Valentine. He says this is unacceptable as Air Jamaica is a brand that is known worldwide.  Mr.
Valentine also has serious concerns about the secrecy under which the sale has
been done. "It is unfortunate that the Steering Committee which was in place and which included the unions, was not aware of the bidders (or) of the final decision, and to hear it publicly tells us how somewhat of how the Government does business. It is not democratic, it is not something that people of this country has any say in ... it tells us that it is the private sector that is running this country. "How can you have two of the leading unions within the union as a party to this process and we know nothing of what transpired," Mr. Valentine asked. He added that the NWU will be seeking a meeting with the Government and Air Jamaica's management as the unions should be consulted before a deal is inked. Impact on workers In the meantime, President General of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union Kavon Gayle says he wants to know what changes are coming to Air Jamaica when the sale is approved.  "At this
stage of the game, it is still a recommendation that is supposed to go before Cabinet
but Cabinet and the Government must make a decision. The first concern is what
changes are going to be made to Air Jamaica since Spirit is a low cost
airline. "We have seen where the trimming of staff started as part of the
business plan but we don't know to what extent the changes are going to be made
and how any changes will impact on the workforce," said Mr. Gayle.He like Mr. Valentine is expecting to have discussions with the Government and the management of Air Jamaica before a final decision is made to sell the airline. When contacted Information Minister Daryl Vaz said Cabinet has not yet signed off on the sale of the airline. |