ATS workers and management now at a deadlock

The ATS workers and management dispute are now at a deadlock as the Federated Airlines Staff Association says the 200 workers will not sign the Return to Work letters and the management standing by its statement that they need to sign the letters to have the assurance that they won’t walk off their jobs again.

The union has the option to report all it’s grievances to the Ministry of Employment for formal mediation and go to the Employment Tribunal, however, the association’s General Secretary Vilikesa Naulumatua says they are not sure whether they will do that at this stage.

He says they will only take that approach if the workers are allowed back to work without signing the Return to Work letters saying that they were misguided.

Naulumatua says the workers want to return to work and it was right for them to walk off their workstations during working hours on December 16th to attend an ATS Employees Trust meeting. 

The 180 suspended workers did not get paid yesterday and Fijivillage has asked Naulumatua how the union will look after the welfare of the workers and their families as school also starts in two weeks.

He says they have support.

When questioned on the amount of money to be given to the workers by the union to assist them, Naulumatua said they do not have the actual amount however he believes that there will be a resolution soon.

27 workers have returned to work after signing the Return to Work letters while 180 workers remain suspended without pay.

ATS has a total workforce of 639.

Meanwhile, ATS Chairman Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the politicians and unionists are taking the innocent workers for a ride to launch their campaigns for the elections this year.

Sayed-Khaiyum has now made it clear that ATS Employees Trust has received dividends amounting to $5.7 million from ATS and he is raising the question how much the Trust has given to the workers as shareholders.  

While responding to Fijivillage interview with union General Secretary, Vilikesa Naulumatua where he said that they have been receiving pay increments but want COLA and they would be happy with 31%, 15% or 4.3% COLA, Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the unionists seem confused and are misleading the workers.

Acting CEO of ATS Hare Mani says the suspended workers will not get paid because they did not work and maintains that they can sign the Return to Work letters and return to work while the management and union can have discussions on the pay and work conditions.

Meanwhile National Federation Party Leader Professor Biman Prasad has questioned the ATS Management and Board to come out clean on whether they are victimising those locked out employees who have returned to work by telling them they will not have any pay rise and employment promotion for the next two years.

Prasad also says that this is not strike action but it is purely 49% of shareholders in ATS expressing concern at how the company is being run.

Mani maintains that they are not victimising the returning workers.