Strike to continue affecting all TAP flights operated by subsidiary Portugália
The union representing pilots working for Portugália – a subsidiary of Portugal’s flag carrier, TAP, has decided to extend its work-to-rule / part-time strike on TAP flights, until April 11.
An official for SIPLA, the Independent Union of Airline Pilots, told Lusa that the action will continue to involve refusing to operate flights between 3am and 9am.
SIPLA has been running a similar strike since March 12 – and in spite of the disruption (28-29 TAP flights tend to use the 3am to 9am timeslot, and these have been reduced to “only one or two”, other than the obligatory service between Lisbon and Terceira island, on the Azores), the union feels it has not attained its objectives, which they describe as “guarantees of stability”.
“There has been progress on some issues”, the official concedes, “but when (mangement) send the wording of the proposals, they are altered” from what was discussed at the meetings – of which numerous have been taking place.
“In just one month, management has contradicted its own statements, proving that the only thing that has really changed is its disinformation strategy,” said the unnamed official.
SIPLA also revealed that it has been told that TAP intends to reduce Portugália’s fleet from 19 to 17 aircraft, and that there will be no guarantee of workers being integrated into the parent company.
Although Portugália was recently transferred from TAP SGPS to TAP SA as part of moves to reprivatise the airline, “nothing is going to change” where employees’ status is concerned, the union explains, adding that “they fear for the future of the company” – which currently employs almost 900 people (including cabin crew and pilots).
The union has already filed a complaint with the Portuguese Competition Authority for alleged violation of the competition rules in the Regulation on the Use of External Contracts (RRCE), and is also preparing to make a submission to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition.
One of the reasons for the dissatisfaction relates precisely to the RRCE, created in 1998 with the intention of acting as a brake on the contracting of external flights by TAP, including Portugália (which is effectively part of the TAP group) and which accounts for the largest share – imposing limits that, if exceeded, revert in favour of TAP pilots through the payment of compensation.
These rules led to costs of €60 million last year as a result of the payment of six extra basic salaries to each TAP pilot, while Portugália pilots, by dint of the arrangement, received nothing.
Portugália’s pilots, who in 2023 carried out around 25% of TAP’s total flights, thus lament the consequences of the rules, which in their opinion make no sense.
SIPLA’s leadership sent a proposal to TAP’s management which provides for the “replacement of current aircraft, the acquisition of new aircraft, labour guarantees, protection from job cuts due to fleet reduction, the definition of a minimum number of aircraft and the admission of Portugália pilot officers to TAP through an internal competition.”
In a response to Lusa on March 12, TAP said that “in the impossibility of reaching a consensus to avoid a protest whose raison d’être is difficult to understand, TAP has already taken all possible measures to mitigate the effect of this strike on passengers.”
With that in mind, it added, operations would run normally during this period. The company will presumably now have to ensure operations ‘run smoothly’ a little while longer.
Source material: LUSA
