AA HR director acts to combat job cuts rumours following merger with Saga

The AA’s HR director has acted to calm fears of job cuts after the GMB union re-ignited concerns over the motoring group’s £6bn merger with Saga.

Martin Sawkins told Personnel Today that there were no plans to make any large- scale changes to the operation of either business.

“There may be a small amount of duplication in senior management,”he said. “But the focus is on the continuing growth of both businesses and we anticipate that this will lead to the creation of more jobs over time.

“We also advised the union there were no plans to change either terms and conditions or pension arrangements.”

The AA Democratic Union had already claimed to have assurances from new chief executive, Saga boss Andrew Goodsell, over these issues.

But GMB  national secretary for the AA, Paul Maloney, insisted Goodsell could not guarantee the safety of employees.

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Maloney said he was concerned that GMB members at the AA would bear the brunt of £4.8bn of fresh debt piled onto the merged company, with private equity owners seeking a quick profit through asset-stripping.

Maloney said: “We have written to Andrew Goodsell for clarification and transparency on redundancies, without a response. We all know that private equity firms are anti-trade unions – they will keep us as far away as they possibly can.”