The National Syndicate of Air Transport, which is under the banner of the Moroccan Labor Union, has announced a layoff plan for the Royal Moroccan Airlines (Laram), calling on the government to assume its responsibility as “Laram” is a national state-owned company.
Alal Baba Lahcen, Secretary General of the National Air Transport Syndicate, said that “everyone acknowledges the losses incurred by the aviation sector due to the Coronavirus crisis”, adding that the union is aware that the reduction of part of the “Laram” fleet requires a reduction in the number of employees and salaries, stressing that this ought to be done according to the guarantees of the Labor Code (Moroccan Labor Law).
The Employment Code stipulates in Chapter 66 that businesses are entitled to terminate an employment contract due to the repercussions of an economic crisis or bankruptcy, but this procedure must be justified by a report that includes economic reasons that require the application of the separation process and a statement on the economic and financial status of the contractor.
In his statement, the union official stated that “it is not acceptable to slaughter workers and employees or provide meager compensation in case of resorting to this economic demobilization”,
The Union stressed that the austerity procedure must include everyone, from the company’s highest official to its smallest worker.
The same source also expressed its surprise by the “Laram’s resorting to this procedure at a time when certain privileges practises are still taking place at the company.’
Lahcen also added that “Before taking such steps, we must reduce the number of cars placed at the disposal of company officials, knowing that there are those who take advantage of two cars belonging to the Foundation.”
The Secretary-General of the National Air Transport Syndicate also believes that “Laram was already mired in the crisis before COVID-19, and today it is time to hold people accountable for years of mismanagement, and then pass to the step of getting rid of employees.”
The spokesman stressed that “the demobilization must also include those who receive 20 million as salary per month and not the employee or the simple worker, then cut with the practices of the past that were part of today’s crisis”.
The same spokesman also noted that the union office will stand against the so-called “economic demobilization”.
In his statement, Lahcen called on the Ottmani government to intervene in order to protect jobs, pointing out that the matter concerns a “national company reflecting Morocco’s image in the world”.
It is worth noting that the austerity plan that the Royal Air Maroc Company intends to undertake consists of getting rid of 30 % of its fleet of 59 aircraft and 30 % of its employees, in addition to organizing “voluntary departure”, and then cancelling a number of international flights, especially the newly-established ones or those that are causing financial imbalances.
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