ANOTHER 34 Air Jamaica workers are to get redundancy letters today or on the weekend as the national carrier reorganises its operations to achieve financial viability.Vincent Morrison, island supervisor at the National Workers Union (NWU), confirmed yesterday that the employees, mostly the airline's maintenance workers, would be made redundant. He said of this number, 17 were trainees who were employed during last year.
This latest group is the second set of workers to be sent home by the company since this week. On Wednesday, the company gave 100 flight attendants redundancy letters. Sandrea Falconer, Air Jamaica's director of communications, stressed yesterday that the company had no immediate plans to terminate the services of any more flight attendants.
The Gleaner, however, understands that other positions in other areas would also be cut. "Staff levels in other areas including pilots and management will be adjusted by next week," said Dr. Vin Lawrence, executive chairman of Air Jamaica Board. Mr. Morrison also argued that there had to be equity across the board, pointing out that the "managerial side" had not yet been cut. "There has to be equity," he said.
Dr. Lawrence, in a release, had said that the redundancies were "necessary and had to be done quickly in order to save the airline."
