Convened by the SNA (National Union of Aeronauts), Gol Linhas Aéreas crew members held a demonstration at Congonhas airport, in São Paulo, for salary compensation adjustments. The call for the act was born out of the impossibility of reaching a salary agreement with the airline in recent rounds of negotiations.
During a meeting last Tuesday (26), Gol took a position against an agreement and informed that it would implement compensation through the payment of compensation below the claims of pilots and flight attendants.
According to the union, the monthly value of this recomposition ranges from approximately R$ 450, for flight attendants, to R$ 2,300, for commanders. The union’s proposal was a salary readjustment of 8.5% and a monthly indemnity sum similar to that presented by the company, but for 12 months, not four.
“For many crew members it seems like a big shut up,” union president Henrique Hacklaender said after the meeting. “Gol implemented crisis management without any approval from the category and without measuring whether this would be satisfactory.”
In addition, the company informed that it would create an internal committee of 12 crew members, looking for opportunities to optimize the company’s costs, and that possible savings will be converted to the flight group.
Through its website, the SNA stated that the compensation implemented by Gol “does not meet the claim agenda” of the category. The entity also does not agree with the creation of a forum with crew members to discuss cost cuts.
The union understood that Gol was not willing to negotiate and proposed a measure with a conflict of interest, since there is no certainty that an internal committee would be composed through democratic means, such as a transparent independent vote, for example.
Because of this, the crew went to the airport lobby with posters asking for fair remuneration and appreciation of the profession.
Sought, Gol did not respond until the publication of this text.
Sector was one of the most affected by the pandemic
The call for the protest is another chapter in the discontent of the airline’s employees since the beginning of the pandemic.
The sector was one of the most affected by the paralysis of the economy. According to a survey by the CNI (National Confederation of Industries), in May 2020 the country registered 588,000 paying passengers, a number 93% lower than in the same month of the previous year. According to data from IATA (the international association of airlines), companies lost, on average, US$ 230 million per day in the first six months of the crisis.
In this context, the airlines negotiated with the unions to reduce wages in exchange for maintaining jobs – an agreement that was maintained until December last year by Gol.
Even with the return of full salary, Hacklaender says that, compared to 2019, the remuneration of Gol’s crew has dropped by at least 20%. This is because half of this amount is variable and depends on the number of flights, which the company has not yet resumed at the pace before the coronavirus crisis.
“During the pandemic, many people spent everything they had from their reserves to try to maintain themselves”, says the pilot.
On Thursday (28), Gol announced that it had a net loss of R$ 2.85 billion in the second quarter, against a profit of R$ 658 million in the same period of the previous year.
with Reuters
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