Member Mail 7 / 2021
Swiss Presents Facts: Unnecessary (!), Careless (!), Abusive!
Dear Colleagues
Even in the upswing, Swiss is creating more problems. While many companies are waiting on "stand-by" and are taking advantage of extended short-time allowances and the first fruits of the recovery, the new Swiss CEO already seems to be losing his nerve: He wants to get rid of 500 employees.
The company seems to have forgotten about the Swiss Confederation’s guarantee of several billion Swiss Francs, the further expansion of short-time work compensation is probably classified as irrelevant, the employees' sacrifices –the crisis CLA and other voluntary measures – are in no way appreciated, the importance of the vaccination progress and the "digital evidence" is underestimated and the increase in bookings that has already occurred is not noticeably taken into account.
The wage sacrifices of many employees due to short-time work and the "generous bonuses" to management employees at the beginning of the crisis have not been forgotten.
Inadequate Consultation Process
Swiss refused to adjust the deadline for the consultation process (see our statement on May 27, 2021), which speaks volumes about the sincerity of the company's consultation process. On May 31, 2021, Swiss let us know that our ideas would be evaluated, in particular, our demands "to suspend restructuring measures during the continued short-time work, to plan any measures after the end of the second phase of short-time work and to continue and improve the previous voluntary measures".
We were in no way informed about the results of their evaluation before the decision to follow through with the cutbacks and we have not been invited to a hearing.
Legal Action Required
As we stated in Member Mail 6/2021, we are prepared to take further action if Swiss should persist on its wrong path.
Due to the violation of the consultation procedure, we consider the terminations currently issued to be abusive.
As agreed by the GATA committee and the GATA sounding committee, we are now fighting these layoffs for our members.
Specifically, this means: SEV-GATA members download the legal protection application, fill it in completely – specifying the incident as "Mass Layoffs Swiss International Air Lines AG" – , sign it and send it to us no later than 14 days after receiving the termination notice. Please attach a copy of the termination notice, the employment contract (if any), and the last (6) payslips. We will then object to the termination in due time and file the lawsuit. In the event of a successful lawsuit, the plaintiff can expect to receive up to two months' wages as a penalty payment.
A commitment that pays off! If the benefits according to the social plan, including outplacement support, come into effect at the same time, we can still shape your future. In addition to personal (financial) satisfaction, this also provides an opportunity to help ensure that Swiss can never again implement such drastic measures in such a questionable manner.
In the next Member Mail, we will explain how we can advise our members individually – online or face to face, but also collectively in online meetings.
Membership in SEV-GATA is always worthwhile – especially now. Declaration of membership
With solidary greetings
Philipp Hadorn, President
SEV-GATA, your union in the aviation industry!
Philipp Hadorn, President GATA: SEV-Aviation
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