Upholds cabin crew case that “could cost airline” hundreds of millions of euros
Portugal’s Supreme Court of Justice has rejected TAP’s complaint about the reinstatement and compensation to cabin crew dismissed during the pandemic – a process that could cost the airline up to €300 million.
According to the National Union of Civil Aviation Flight Personnel (SNPVAC), this decision is final, “exhausting all TAP’s appeals”.
In a note sent to its members today, SNPVAC explains: “The Supreme Court of Justice decided, without the possibility of further appeals, that the rule contained in the previous Company Agreement – which made distinctions between fixed-term and open-ended workers in matters of remuneration – was null and void and that crew members whose employment contract is open-ended must be included in the category of ‘CAB I’ with the subsequent salary increase”.
At issue is the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice which ruled that some of the workers dismissed as part of the company’s restructuring plan were incorrectly employed in the first place, and thus entitled to compensation.
The decision relates particularly to four crew members, but according to SNPVAC, it could serve as a basis for hundreds of professionals in the same situation. And according to SNPVAC’s calculations, it could cost the airline between €200 to €300 million.
In response to questions sent at the beginning of the year by the PSD parliamentary group, following the news of this decision, TAP said that, up to that date, it had made a provision of “the sum of €37.2 million for the total of ongoing legal actions related to the matter under analysis” (in other words, the company has not put aside enough money, if SNPVAC’s calculations are anything to go by).
In the statement sent to members today, SNPVAC clarifies that, having learned of this final ruling, it has already requested a meeting with TAP’s management as a matter of urgency to obtain answers “such as when the payments of those who were waiting for this decision will be regularised, and how they will be made”.
According to Lusa, 1,514 people left the airline between March 2020 and March 2021 (during the period of the pandemic and/ or because of the restructuring plan).
By the beginning of this year, 925 workers from various professional backgrounds had been rehired, and compensation totalling €1.74 million had been paid to them.
TAP is in the process of being reprivatised, although the fall of the government has once again delayed everything. SNPVAC recently warned the executive that whatever is decided, must involve them, or the deal “won’t work”. ND
