A HEATHROW security officer says he has been left "disgusted" by the airport for slashing his and hundreds of colleagues' wages during the pandemic.

Bradley Harding, 23, from Buckskin, has exposed the airport's decision to impose hefty pay cuts across its workforce. 

In paperwork seen by the Gazette, Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) has proposed pay cuts of up to 37 per cent.

The firm, who enjoyed a pre-tax profit of £413million last year, has also ended its final salary pension scheme while removing paid breaks and allowances.

The airport has already furloughed around 2,500 staff, with the taxpayer picking up the bill.

In May, Heathrow announced that the airport has a "war chest" of £3.2billion to survive on which could help funding costs without a flight leaving the airport for a year.

Which Bradley says begs the question why so many staff have been placed on furlough and in financial hardship.

The Basingstoke man said the way workers had been treated was disgraceful. 

Basingstoke Gazette:

The security officer, who has been on furlough since the end of April, exclusively told the Gazette: “The drastic cuts and ways they are willing to treat their staff after everything they have done to keep the airport open during the pandemic is disgusting.

“I decided to go on furlough to help the company save money and save jobs.

"I am not willing to sit there and let them do this just like hundreds of others are in uproar about it.

"We feel as if they're trying to push it all through quietly without any public outcry, just like British Airways have done with their employees.

“But this is families’ livelihoods at stake. For them to propose such drastic cuts to contracts is unthinkable.

“People who have been on furlough have done so to try and help the company save money and save jobs and the people who have still been working throughout this pandemic have put their lives and families lives at risks by dealing with passengers still flying in and out of the country from all over the globe.”

Unite, the principal aviation union, has accused Heathrow Airport of using the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse to permanently cut the pay and conditions of its workforce, a move described as being about “greed, not power”.

The union represents around 4,500 workers who are directly employed at the airport, working in security, engineering, the fire service, passenger services and air side operations.

All the cuts would be permanent and if Unite does not agree to the attack on workers’ pay, the airport is committed to sacking its entire workforce and rehiring them on poorer terms and conditions.

The union has sought to enter negotiations to attempt to find common ground, but HAL has refused to compromise.

It has been widely documented that HAL was seeking voluntary redundancies from frontline staff.

A Heathrow spokesperson said: “From the start, our priority has been to protect jobs but with the ongoing crisis, this is getting more difficult to sustain.

“Having listened to unions, we have offered a voluntary severance scheme and negotiations will continue in coming weeks.”

The airport has already made 500 out of approximately 1,500 managers redundant, and it is understood that HAL is now looking to cut about 1,800 further posts from 5,500 frontline staff.

But the union has rejected the prospect of any enforced redundancy scheme and has instead negotiated a voluntary severance scheme.

The Gazette has contacted HAL for comment.