Swissair employees fight for redundancy pay

Swiss employees of Swissair still face an uncertain financial future Keystone Archive

Swiss employees of Swissair say they are outraged that government money has been used to pay the redundancy cheques of their foreign colleagues.

The payouts came as the country’s banks, the government and investors in Swissair’s successor say there is no money for redundancy packages for the company’s employees in Switzerland.

The State Secretariat for the Economy (Seco) confirmed on Thursday that the government had been financing foreign redundancy payments. A spokesman said the company would have faced sanctions abroad if these obligations were not met.

The money has been taken out of the SFr1.45 billion ($870 million) government credit to keep Swissair planes flying until next spring. So far, the government has paid out SFr6.8 million, but it said on Thursday that SFr80 million had been set aside for this type of contingency.

Scandalous

For Swissair employee unions, the government action is a slap in the face.

“When the Swiss government said it was willing to spend several billion Swiss francs to help Swissair, they expressly said they would not tolerate the money going towards redundancy payments,” Jürg Drittenbass, spokesman for the Kapers union, told swissinfo.

The principle of the foreign payments is not contested; rather it is the way the authorities have acted.

“It is scandalous the same payments in Switzerland are flatly refused by the government, by Swissair, by Crossair and even the banks,” said Drittenbass. “But everybody tries to ensure landing rights and other obligations in other countries are safeguarded.”

Finding a solution

“Nobody has felt obliged to anything for Swissair workers in Switzerland,” said Drittenbass, “but just to protect the interests of Swissair abroad, and ultimately Crossair, they do not shy away from using money that was not intended for redundancy payments.”

The unions are still working with Seco to work out a social plan for employees fired in Switzerland. “A number of options are being considered and I hope we shall find a satisfying solution within the next few days,” said Jean-Luc Nordmann, head of the labour department at Seco.

The Social Democratic Party has also given the government 10 days to force investors taking over the remains of Swissair to find a way of financing redundancy packages.

swissinfo with agencies