Member Mail 20 / 2014
Swiss to give up destination Basle
General Meeting on Monday, 15 December 2014, 9.00 a.m.,
Auditorium Swiss, Basle
Dear colleagues
Swiss is talking in plain language now: Swiss is going to stop flight operations at its head office from May 2015. The reaction of SEV-GATA is just as plain (comp. Dec. 8, 2014 media report below). At least Swiss assures us to offer jobs to 24 of those affected in Zurich and to help finding employments in other technical firms in Basle. Upon our request they confirmed that social plan “plus” would be applied in cases of hardship.
All members, interested persons and those supporting us are invited to join the meeting at the Auditorium Swiss in Basle on Monday, 15 December 2014, 9.00 a.m. It’s a matter of discussing how to proceed and what countermeasures to take, if any.
Our possibilities depend on whether the workforce is ready to take appropriate measures. The first step to successful results would be to become a member of SEV-GATA and join the meeting. Therefore please print out, fill in and scan your declaration of membership now, participate in the SEV-GATA meeting and co-determine your future!
Kind regards
Philipp Hadorn, president
SEV-GATA, your union of the aviation industry!
Philipp Hadorn, president GATA: SEV-Aviation
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Media report 8.12.2014:
SEV-GATA criticizes decision to shut down flight operations ex Basle
Swiss doesn’t care about employees or investors
With great effort Swiss „Technik“ and „Station“ staff have succeeded in ensuring secure flight operations ex Basle during the past months, despite continual downsizing. With the decision to stop flight operations ex Basle beginning May 2015 Swiss is cutting off part of its own history: Know- how of the whole triangle where three countries meet and investments from the regional economy running into hundreds of millions at the millennium.
Swiss-Luftfahrtstiftung (aviation foundation) is announced to be dissolved in 2015 and Swiss is going to stop flight operations ex Basle immediately. Companies operating internationally from Basle had made it possible with three-digit millions of funds that Swiss could rise like a phoenix from the ashes of the former Swissair group. After the experiments with outsourcing and mass redundancies had failed many a hundred aviation specialists have lost their jobs at Lufthansatechnik Switzerland (LTSW) over the past 5 years. Now 20 Swiss-Technik staff and four „Station“ staff at Swiss Basle are to lose their jobs, still leaving slightly more than 300 employees at Swiss head office. The decision of Lufthansa group to start operations of its subsidiary „Eurowings“ is still pending. Nevertheless Swiss is determined to operate its aircraft ex Zurich from May 2015.
«Withdrawing specialists from Basle, shocking investors (and regular customers) and creating facts, before Lufthansa group has finally decided on ‹Eurowings›, is morally and economically extremely questionable,» critizised Philipp Hadorn, president of SEV-GATA and union secretary SEV.
In the past Swiss’ strategies have already shown very little instinct for business. By sourcing out more than three hundred technicians to the newly established LTSW, a subsidiary of Lufthansa Technik, some dozens of new jobs were created in 2008 before LTSW failed dismally in February 2013. More than 400 staff paid with their jobs for the wrong decisions of Swiss and Lufthansa. We’re interested in hearing the comments of Swiss-Luftfahrtstiftung (Swiss Aviation Foundation) who are supposed to safeguard the interests of Switzerland against the Lufthansa group. The concentration of sales structure and product for the whole Lufthansa group in Frankfurt as announced on December 5, 2014 equally raises questions as to the future of Swiss.
«With my question 14.4066 in parliament I want to know what part Swiss Luftfahrtstiftung is exactly playing and I want to get proof of their performance. On our general meeting next week we are going to get the reaction of those affected by the decision to shut down operations and we want to discuss any resistance and claims against this one-sided company decision,» says Philipp Hadorn also acting as a member of the National Council and he adds: «Perhaps we can manage to turn the bad news of the Advent season into a good Christmas message including a lesson to the insensible managers of Swiss.»
GATA: SEV Aviation (Groundstaff Aviation Technics and Administration) is the aviation division of the transport staff union SEV.
Further information:
Philipp Hadorn, National Council, SEV-GATA-president/union secretary