“In aviation, we were the first to fall.” Groundforce workers are “broke” – ECO

“We want to work, we want to receive. Who is going to pay me to eat? It was under this “motto” and to the sound of applause that the demonstration organized by the Groundforce (CT) workers committee took off at 11:30 am on Wednesday in front of the company’s headquarters. On the second day of a consecutive demonstration, the employees again demanded the payment of February salaries and denounced that the lack of payment is causing “dramatic situations” for the families that depend on the company. At the same time, the atmosphere heated up with the arrival of the Chairman of the Groundforce Board of Directors, who was greeted with boos and boos.

“At this time, we have no money in our accounts. Right now, we have people who are struggling. Husbands and wives who work here [na Groundforce] both at the same time, who received nothing this month. This is serious “says Rute Sousa, speaking with ECO. For 15 years working for the driving, says the employee who never thought “to get to a situation like this.” “We have our difficult moments, but we have obtained gains”, he emphasizes, adding that “the truth is that in aviation we were the first to fall ”.

Luísa Borba, who belongs to the Groundforce CT, also warns of the “dramatic situation” caused by salary delays in the families that depend on this company. “There are employees in which the spouse is unemployed and indeed dramatic situations that are coming to us“, Admits. Groundforce is 50.1% owned by Pasogal and 49.9% by TAP, and according to the official, who has worked in the aviation sector for 22 years, “this is the first time that there has been a total absence of wages”, from Portuguese. there is the flag bearer.

Like the entire aviation sector, Groundforce’s activity has been heavily penalized by the pandemic and the company – whose largest client is TAP – had requested in July a public guarantee for a loan of 30 million euros. This guarantee was never endorsed by the Government and Groundforce ended up breaking liquidity.

Marco Moura, also a member of CT, denounces that the financial situation of the company has “worsened in the last four months”, having led the company to decide “unilaterally” to stop paying “career changes” and “changes of annuities” , but the last straw happened when at the end of February the company informed the approximately 2,400 workers that it had no liquidity to pay the salaries referred to February.

We received, for the first time, an email from Mr. Alfredo Casimiro [presidente do Conselho de Administração da Groundforce] explaining that there was no liquidity and that he expected the loan to be made within 15 days and, therefore, had to wait patiently ”.

“One day before receiving the salary, we always receive the salary receipt by email. This month [fevereiro]As in other months, we receive the receipt as usual. The next day wages were supposed to come in [na conta]. But the salaries did not come in and that day there is night, at 10 at night, we received, for the first time, an email from Mr. Alfredo Casimiro [presidente do Conselho de Administração da Groundforce] to Explain that there was no liquidity and that you waited for the loan to be made within 15 days and therefore had to wait patiently“Explains Alexandra Silva, one of the workers of the ground handling company, to ECO.

For the payment of February salaries, the groundhandling company had requested the total or partial advance payment of the invoices issued to TAP for the services provided in December 2020 and January 2021 and amounting to 6 million euros, but the airline did not accept. On the contrary, TAP proposed the advance of two million euros for services not yet provided for May 2021 and requested as a guarantee the pledge of the shares held by Pasogal, which the shareholder described this Tuesday as “incomprehensible “and”illegal”.

Yet even during Wednesday’s rally, Groundforce’s majority shareholder revealed that he changed his mind. “The consideration is accepted by the majority shareholder. I will pledge my shares. Pasogal is available to deliver the shares as a guarantee for the invoices due in December and January “said Alfredo Casimiro, to the sound of boos and boos when arriving at the demonstration that gathered about 300 employees. The official also said he believed the agreement between Pascogal and the infrastructure ministry would be reached in the next few hours. “If the agreement is signed today, I believe that tomorrow we will have the situation resolved.”

When there are full flights and we are back to normal activity, Groundforce will take the leap. “

This solution is well received by the CT, which affirms that, if it materializes “it is the quickest solution”, to solve the “immediate problem”, that is, the payment of back wages. “THE more urgent at this point is to take care of wages and sit at the table to solve the remaining problemsMarco Moura points out. However, Rute Sousa stresses that this “is a measure if it lasts,” but warns that if the situation repeats itself in the coming months, they will “charge back” with other forms of struggle.

If, in 2019, Groundforce workers had no hands to measure the influx of passengers at Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado airport, the pandemic came to change their routine. With the state of emergency in March 2020 and borders closed, most workers were sent home to receive two-thirds of their salary. In summer, the situation improved, albeit at levels much lower than boom tourism, and Covid forced them to change their work routines. “We started to have a completely different job than the one we had “says Alexandra Silva.

In addition to being responsible for shipments, landings and check in, These professionals also began to verify some of the preventive measures of Covid. “Due to the pandemic, we began to verify the tests with Covid, to see why each passenger is going to enter that country and if it can be done,” he explains. A year later, the workers say that “a lot has changed”, but they believe that when the pandemic passes Groundforce will “jump.” “We just need your help now.”

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