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British Airways catering strike looming at Heathrow

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100 HGV drivers at DO&CO, the firm used by British Airways for its catering out of London Heathrow, have voted overwhelmingly for strike action.

The strike is due to take place on 4th March and 5th March.

The industrial action is over a number of issues. As well as the alleged refusal of the company to discuss a pay rise for staff, there are also issues over employment contracts and – interestingly – allegations over the treatment of the funds in the company pension scheme.

DO&CO catering

DO&CO is also facing unfair dismissal claims from workers who left the company during the pandemic. When British Airways moved its catering contract from Gate Gourmet and DHL to the more upmarket DO&CO in 2020, 1,800 workers moved across under TUPE agreements. Over 1,000 were then made redundant.

We have had catering strikes at British Airways before, of course. For short haul services it tends to lead to improved catering, since the airline sets up takeaway boxes in the lounge. It is more difficult for long haul services.

As the workers are DO&CO employees, the blame for the strike cannot be placed directly at the door of British Airways. You can, of course, argue that the airline puts its suppliers in a position where they cannot afford to pay staff an adequate wage, but we don’t know the terms of the supply contract.

DO&CO is a substantially more upmarket business than Gate Gourmet and it was a surprising – but welcome – discovery that British Airways was changing suppliers. DO&CO invested heavily in new facilities as part of the deal, with truly terrible timing due to the pandemic.

You can find out more on the Unite union website here although the article has not yet been updated with the strike ballot result.

Flights from Gatwick and London City will not be impacted by the strike.

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Comments (44)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • tony says:
    24 Feb24 February 06:33

    I guess given the quick win by Menzies staff, you can hardly blame DO&CO for trying it on.

    • Chrisasaurus says:
      24 Feb24 February 07:34

      I’m not sure they’re trying on. The pension fund allegations are concerning or would be to an employee of the business

      • WaynedP says:
        24 Feb24 February 07:58

        Concerns over stewardship of employees’ invested pension funds is a matter for scheme trustees, a body of overseers deliberately separated from, and independent of Company Finance Directors since the Robert Maxwell debacle.

        Unless the “Vienna based company” has an inappropriately controlling relationship with the pension scheme trustees (a separate matter altogether) I can’t yet see why the company is in the firing line of allegations of improper pension scheme stewardship.

        • Lady London says:
          24 Feb24 February 13:25

          That’s the theory Wayne but unfortunately from my observation so many pension scheme trustees are employer’s lackeys.

    • ChrisC says:
      24 Feb24 February 07:52

      Timings of the Do&Co ballot and the Menzies resolution etc don’t allow for that.

  • WaynedP says:
    24 Feb24 February 07:08

    “Avis and its sister company Budget, which have an exclusive deal with the IAG airlines.”

    Unimpressed that the old BAEC AWD codes have had zero effect reducing Avis car hire rates for several months now.

    Even the Virgin Red code provides a discount to rates without any AWD. So much for “exclusive deal” with IAG.

  • Derek Scott says:
    24 Feb24 February 07:31

    Is it fair to call it a BA Catering strike… it “suggests” it’s directly a BA issue when it is t. Surely it’s an airline catering strike? BA get blamed for lots of things but if the Caterer took on a contract they had no financial wiggle room with, that can’t be placed at BA’s door.

    Poor BA getting implicated for something they probably having nothing to do with, and that to me is an unfair headline

    • ChrisC says:
      24 Feb24 February 07:55

      Indeed “strike affecting BA catering …” would have been a more accurate headline.

      But a large number of people would just blame BA any because it’s part of their DNA..

    • blenz101 says:
      24 Feb24 February 07:59

      It’s a BA issue in that you won’t get catering on their flights. “Do&Co striking” is meaningless to most people. The article makes it explicitly clear within the first line that it is a supplier who is striking.

    • Catalan says:
      24 Feb24 February 12:24

      Agreed. It’ll affect all other airlines who are catered by Do&Co at LHR

    • Lady London says:
      24 Feb24 February 13:30

      Could Baxter & Storey have been similarly unfairly named when they were roundly criticised over years for the rock bottom quality of catering they provided in BA’s lounges?

      Although I am a great fan of Do&Co, like Baxter&Storey surely they only have what BA as the buyer in the contract gives them budget and specifications to work with.

  • Richie says:
    24 Feb24 February 07:44

    Does BA have a principal and agent relationship with DO&CO?

  • John says:
    24 Feb24 February 07:53

    I thought BA catering had been on strike for the past two years 😉

  • Gavlar says:
    24 Feb24 February 07:56

    What impact would this have on long haul flights ? Flying to Las Vegas on 5th March in Club World.

    Os it possible the flight could be cancelled or would it just be reduced catering on board ?

    • Rob says:
      24 Feb24 February 09:07

      Legally only the crew need to be provided with meals and that will be arranged. Your contract with BA does not include the provision of food or drink.

      • aseftel says:
        24 Feb24 February 09:31

        You’re right about the wording of the contract, but the legal position is more nuanced ever since s50 of CRA came into force.

      • Gavlar says:
        24 Feb24 February 15:53

        So is your experience your, is it possible the flight could be cancelled due to no catering ? Or is that unlikely to happen and instead the flight would go ahead albeit with no/limited catering ?

  • Blair Waldorf Salad says:
    24 Feb24 February 08:42

    If AF/KLam stay at T3 then they’re going to need a long term lounge solution. no1Lounge is not that solution.

  • AJA says:
    24 Feb24 February 08:59

    Is BA Do&Co’s only customer? If not then there must be the possibility that other airlines will be affected too?

    I find the statement that you imply that BA “puts its suppliers in a position where they cannot afford to pay staff an adequate wage” unacceptable. BA or any other airline does not have any say over what its suppliers pay their staff. It is like saying HfP salaries are influenced by pressure from American Express. Wholly untrue.

    It may have been true when catering was an in-house operation before Gate Gourmet was spun off from BA. But it is not true today.

    Yes there are negotiations on how much the airlines will pay for the catering per passenger and what is offered in premium cabins but that is usually down to influencing menu offerings and the ingredients used. It is nothing to do with how much Do&Co or Gate Gourmet pays their staff.

    • Rhys says:
      24 Feb24 February 09:02

      Used by Turkish, Emirates and Austrian too usually. But at Heathrow BA is clearly their biggest customer in terms of sheer volume of meals delivered.

    • Rob says:
      24 Feb24 February 09:12

      BA is effectively their only customer, yes. It will be over 90%.

      If Amex doubles what they pay us, happy to give the team a pay rise 🙂

      • Jeff77 says:
        24 Feb24 February 09:18

        Got out of the wrong side of bed today Rob ?!

        Second angryish reply this morning 👀

      • AJA says:
        24 Feb24 February 13:23

        But would you reduce salaries if Amex pressured you into giving them a 50% discount? 🙂

    • ADS says:
      24 Feb24 February 14:41

      I DO find it wholly reasonable that large companies are held to account for screwing suppliers, who in turn screw their employees

      We’re long past the time when big companies could shrug their shoulders and say “not my problem”

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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