Medina blames TAP management for salary cuts

The Ministry of Finance assures that it was neither consulted nor informed about changes in the processing of salaries at TAP, disclaiming responsibility for the suspension of payments that allowed for compensating salary cuts at the airline. It also informs that in the last meeting with the administration led by Luís Rodrigues on November 20, they were only aware of four company agreements.

The negotiation of new company agreements (AE) led the airline to compensate for the implementation of the 20% salary cuts outlined in the Restructuring Plan by paying an additional amount. This practice was interrupted in November, as reported by Expresso this Tuesday, because Finance had not yet given the green light to all the new company agreements concluded with the unions.

The ministry led by Fernando Medina rejects any responsibility: “The Ministry of Finance was not informed or consulted about changes in salary processing, and is also unaware of communications between the Executive Committee and the company’s workers“, it states in response to ECO. Finance also informs that at the time of the last meeting with TAP’s administration early last week, they were only aware of four company agreements out of a total of nine, and they were going to approve them.

“In the meeting held on November 20, the Minister of Finance had the opportunity to convey to the Executive Committee of TAP (represented by its President and the Administrator in charge of finance) that the four company agreements signed with representative worker structures and analyzed by the ministry’s services would be authorized“, says the Ministry.

The response details that the airline had submitted four collective contracts by the 17th, the Friday before the meeting. On the same night, five more were sent, but they only “arrived at the services for analysis on the day of the meeting.” “Such contracts were therefore not, at the time of the meeting, known to any members of the government or present offices“, Finance adds.

The Government, it is recalled, initiated the process of reprivatizing TAP, but the President of the Republic vetoed the decree-law, and while waiting for a new decree, the Prime Minister resigned. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa called for early elections on March 10, and it is now unknown when the reprivatization process will proceed.