About 500 pilots protest in Lisbon against TAP management
About 500 pilots demonstrated this Tuesday in Lisbon in protest of the management of the Portuguese airline TAP, which they accused of committing “abuses” and “injustices” and of having prevented workers’ meetings from being held “several” times.
The pilots, summoned by the leadership of the Portuguese Civil Aviation Pilots’ Union and who were not on duty at that time, carried signs that read “I am a TAP pilot and I am also a taxpayer”, “I have no rights » and «sorry, I’m a TAP pilot», among other messages.
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The initiative intended to “demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the abuses, injustices and the way in which the administration and guardianship have managed the company and the employment relationship with the pilots,” they explained in the call.
The leader of the Civil Aviation Pilots Union, Tiago Faria Lopes, explained in statements to journalists that the airline’s pilots record “cuts” in their salary as part of the restructuring that the company is undergoing, when other workers of the same entity do not suffer them, reported EFE.
“We have already asked to reduce (the salary cut), to, at least, stay the same as other workers. We are not different from them, we are the same, we are taxpayers and we will continue like this, always professional, contrary to management, contrary to the minister, “said Faria Lopes.
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The minister he was referring to was the Portuguese Infrastructure Minister, Pedro Nuno Santos, whom he accused of “compromising” with the current management of the company.
Likewise, he asked him to disclose the details of the restructuring plan that the airline is undergoing.
«We are seeing the death of TAP and we do not want that. We want a healthy TAP because it is very strategic for the country. The pilots want it, the workers want it and the Portuguese want it. (…) 3,200 million euros is a lot of money to play with taxpayers’ money, “Faria Lopes insisted.
At the time of the protest, the TAP airline released a statement in which it stated that it “regrets not yet having reached” an agreement with its pilots, “essential to the company”, and that it remains “committed to finding solutions that allow guarantee the sustainability of the company and all its workers”.
The European Commission gave the green light to state aid of around 3,200 million euros for TAP in exchange for a restructuring plan that requires, among other compensation, to divest three companies considered “non-essential”.
The Portuguese State currently owns 100% of the airline’s capital and also owns 72.5% of the TAP group, which includes the maintenance business in Brazil, holdings in ground handling and catering companies, and the airline regional Portugal.
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