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Gravesham MP Adam Holloway has been asked to back a pledge to review British Airway's job cuts strategy.
Airline workers staged a protest outside the town's civic offices in Windmill St, Gravesend shortly after 10.30am this morning.
British Airways workers call for Gravesham MP Adam Holloway to back the pledge
Protestors from the under-fire airline came together in a bid to garner support for a nationwide pledge calling for government intervention.
They waved banners and chanted the name of the Conservative MP as they pleaded for him to join a long list of MPs calling for a review into the airline's handing of the affair.
It comes after BA gave notice in April of its intention to cut 12,000 jobs from its 42,000-strong workforce and rehire the remaining 30,000 on revised contracts.
The decision has been met with scorn by workers who say they are being forced out of the company only to be rehired on "inferior contracts", workers union Unite has claimed.
The union also spearheaded calls for a review of what it labelled the airline’s "privileged landing and take-off slots".
One worker attending the protest, who did not wish to be named, bemoaned the lack of a response from their MP.
They said: "I’ve written to my MP numerous times and he said companies can do what they want. He hasn’t even met us."
The worker, who has been employed with BA for 25 years, added: "We are just numbers to them.
"We made them all this profit last year in particular and this is how they thank us!"
Another, who had been with the company for 35 years, called for people to "wake up", adding that they felt there was different rules for management than its staff.
They said: "If BA gets away with this other companies will do the same.
"I am fighting for my daughters. The spirit of the workforce is broken."
Gravesham's Cllr Shane Mochrie-Cox (Lab) was pictured signing the pledge demanding action from the government outside the council's offices.
He said: "The MP should listen to his constituents who have lost their jobs and sign the pledge.
"Many of the constituents work for BA. The airline should not be using the pandemic to cut Ts and Cs."
He went on to explain that he felt the company should honour its contracts, adding "people deserve decent jobs".
A statement from British Airways said that it needed to adapt to survive the crisis and was doing what it could to protect jobs.
"This is the biggest challenge the airline and our industry has ever faced."
A spokesman said: "For more than 100 years British Airways has been flying millions of people around the world. Today that world remains largely closed.
"This is the biggest challenge the airline and our industry has ever faced.
"Sadly, the global pandemic has resulted in job losses across every industry. Many airlines have already made thousands of staff redundant."
The airline went on to state that it was not "immune to this crisis".
It added: "We have to adapt to survive, so we will continue with the proper, lawful consultative process and we will keep inviting union representatives to discuss our proposals to the serious challenges we face.
The airline remains in discussions with the pilot's union BALPA.
"It is not too late to find solutions – as we have done with BALPA – and to protect jobs," it added.
Mr Holloway has been contacted for comment.
