Union leader: Gatwick Airport should hang its head in shame’ £800million profits... £400,000 paid in tax
GATWICK bosses have paid just £400,000 in Corporation Tax since 2011 – while making £800million profit, a union claims.
Britain’s second biggest airport – which wants to shut a final salary pension scheme for workers – also paid wealthy backers more than £541million in dividends in the same period, says Unite.
The union is balloting 2,000 firefighters, security officers and maintenance workers over Christmas strike action to fight the “hypocritical” pension scheme closure.
Unite’s Jennie Formby said: “Gatwick Airport should hang its head in shame.
“It has raked in massive profits yet paid just £400,000 in Corporation Tax while loyal and long-serving workers are being strong- armed into signing away the promise of a secure retirement.”
But Gatwick’s owner – a consortium of UK and overseas holding companies – claims £1.5billion of improvement work at the airport since it was bought in 2009 had resulted in annual losses “and consequently Corporation Tax has not been due to HMRC”. It said from this April it paid “sizeable” Corporation Tax as part of its total tax bill of £65million. But Ms Formby said: “It can argue all it likes that its tax arrangements are within the letter of the law, but such arguments will not hold much sway with our members.”
Gatwick says it uncovered a £900million black hole in the pension scheme, which is no longer viable. It has offered workers compensation of a month’s pay for each year of service up to a maximum of 12 years, or a one-off payment of £18,250.
A spokesman added: “We are taking this consultation forward in a collaborative manner.”
Christmas strikes could cause chaos at one of the busiest times at the airport, which had 40 million passengers last year.