Gate Gourmet Details Voluntary Redundancy Offer

Gate Gourmet Details Voluntary Redundancy Offer: "Airline catering company Gate Gourmet said on Sunday it offered redundancy payments twice the statutory level to employees at the heart of a dispute which earlier this month grounded flights at British Airways.
Gate Gourmet, owned by US private equity firm Texas Pacific Group, sacked 670 UK staff in early August after workers walked out over the hiring of temporary staff, prompting sympathy action by BA ground crew.
Gate Gourmet on Sunday said employees would receive two weeks pay for each year of service in the voluntary redundancy package, more than twice the statutory level for redundancy pay.
'It is Gate Gourmet London's hope that the results of this voluntary program and compensation payment plan, coupled with a possible compulsory program and work rule changes, will reduce its workforce to levels agreed upon by the union which will restore the company to economic viability,' it said in a statement.
The Transport & General Workers Union (T&G) said on Friday it was confident the issue could be resolved, adding it would become clearer late next week or the following week which workers were prepared to accept redundancy.
Separately the Sunday Times newspaper reported that BA had agreed to fund millions of pounds worth of redundancy and compensation payments to Gate Gourmet workers.
A BA spokesman declined to comment on the report, which put the one-off payment at around GBP�7 million (USD$12.7 million).
The airline has a contract with Gate Gourmet until 2008 but has yet to sign a new agreement with the company.
'We have improved the financial terms and we've extended our relationship with Gate Gourmet until 2010 but in terms of the detail of the contract that remains commercially confidential,' the spokesman said."