Unite asks regulator to investigate 'serious misuse' of
British Airways employees' private information
5th February 2010
Unite, the leading union at British Airways, has today (Friday)
claimed it suspects there has been a serious breach of the systems
meant to protect the private information the airline holds on
employees.
According to Unite, confidential information relating to some
crew members' earnings, holiday records and unlisted home addresses
somehow came to be in the possession of a national newspaper, the
Daily Mail, in the run up to the proposed industrial action by crew
last December. The information subsequently formed the basis
of a story printed in the paper.
Unite says that the resultant articles caused tremendous
distress to the individuals concerned directly and, more widely, to
other cabin crew who were subject to harassment by members of the
public including verbal attacks and some were even spat at when
wearing their uniform.
The union has therefore written to the Information Commissioner,
the body charged with ensuring the Data Protection Act 1998 is
upheld, requesting an immediate investigation into how confidential
employee information came into the hands of to the media.
Unite's letter alleges that a serious breach of the Act may have
been committed.
The union is also pledging that, should it be found that the
information was leaked deliberately, it will seek a full apology
from the company for what it will regard as an "act of malice"
against its members.
Len McCluskey, Unite assistant general secretary, said that the
data protection breach has important ramifications for all BA’s
40,000 workers:
"An employer is duty-bound to keep the private information it
holds on its employees confidential. So BA's 40,000-strong
workforce will be extremely concerned to discover that information
they gave in confidence is not safe.
"We have asked the Information Commissioner to investigate this
disclosure urgently. While it awaits the Commissioner's findings,
BA must take immediate steps to reassure its workforce that the
data it holds on them will never again fall into the wrong
hands.
"Further, if it is found that this information was deliberately
leaked to the newspaper to whip up anti-cabin crew sentiment, then
this must be viewed as a deliberate act of malice and Unite will
demand that BA takes the necessary actions in relation to those
concerned.
“At the very least, while the Information Commissioner
undertakes this investigation, BA should issue a full apology to
our members who have been caused such distress by this grave breach
of their privacy.”
The ballot of Unite's more than 12,000 cabin crew members
fighting to defend their jobs opened on January 25th and will
conclude on February 22nd.
Unite has released a video to show the real reasons behind the
dispute, which can be seen on www.unitetheunion.org/bavideo
ENDS
For further information, please contact Pauline Doyle in the
Unite press office
Note - the full text of Unite's letter to the
Information Commissioner is as follows:
Urgent request to investigate serious misuse of private data
held on British Airways employees
On Thursday, December 17th 2009, a national newspaper (the Daily
Mail) published an article which contained private details of some
of our cabin crew members employed by British Airways.
We believe that a serious breach of the Data Protection Act 1998
was committed in the process, which we respectfully request that
you now fully and immediately investigate.
Unite is extremely concerned that private and confidential
information about BA's employees was somehow disclosed to the Daily
Mail. This information was then used as the basis of articles
carried on the front page of the Daily Mail and within the paper
itself.
The information disclosed to the Daily Mail was held only by
their employer. This included information on the individuals'
sickness records, on their annual earnings and on their holiday
entitlements. The newspaper also had access to our members'
addresses, even though in the case of one crew member this address
was not her place of residence but an address provided by our
member to their employer for use in exceptional
circumstances.
Among an employer's duties to its employees is that they ensure
that private information held is kept confidential. Rightly
so, as the consequences of failing to do so are far-reaching and,
in instances like this, extremely distressing. Following the
publication of these articles, the cabin crew referred to, suffered
abuse and attack from members of the public. Journalists
turned up at their homes, tried to elicit further information from
friends and family, causing further distress in the process, and
even door stepped one family while they were suffering
bereavement. There has also been a considerable backlash
against their cabin colleagues, some of who have themselves been
subject to verbal attacks, heckled in the street and on occasion
even been spat at when wearing their uniform.
On behalf of our members who have had been subject to continuing
media and public vilification as a result of this data breach, we
ask for your assistance in investigating this matter and in
ensuring that British Airway's takes every step to ensure that
private information on its employees cannot again find its way into
the hands of the media. Such an intervention will also, we believe,
provide much-needed assurance to the airline's 40,000 employees
that they too are not vulnerable violations of company data
protection systems.
Unite will assist will do its utmost to assist you with the
speedy resolution of this matter.
I look forward to hearing further from you on this matter.
Yours sincerely
Steve Turner
Unite National Officer, Civil Aviation
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