Doncaster banks to be targeted in demonstration against British Airways

HSBC, Barclays and Santander in Doncaster’s High Street will all be the target of protests tomorrow against the airline which has sparked controversy over plans to fire workers and rehire staff on what union Unite says are inferior contracts.

The demonstrations will target BA’s corporate customers, urging them to put pressure on the airline which has been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

The campaigners will hold a banner reading ‘British Airways – Stop Betraying Britain’, outside Santander, Barclays and HSBC in Doncaster

They want the trio, which are a corporate customer of BA, to put some pressure on the airline to change course.

A recent poll of over 2,000 people, including over 1,219 BA passengers across the UK, conducted by Survation, revealed that the majority of those polled believe BA is wrong to terminate staff and re-employ them on reduced terms and conditions in the middle of a health crisis.

A Unite spokesman said: "Workers, MPs, celebrities and the public have condemned BA's behaviour. The company is essentially creating a new and unrecognisable airline – it should not automatically have the right to control over half the landing and take-off slots at Heathrow. BA needs to be made aware that its customers oppose the airline's behaviour."

The demos will take place tomorrow outside HSBC from 9.45 to 11.15am, Barclays from 11.30am to 12.45pm and Santander from 1pm to 2.30pm.