Bola workers are waiting for grounds for collective dismissal

The workers of the A Bola group, who are subject to collective dismissal, are awaiting justification for this decision from the Ringier group, the president of the Union of Journalists told Lusa.

Luis Simões confirmed that on September 8, workers received a message informing them of the decision of Vicra Comunicações and Vicra Sociedade Desportiva, recently acquired by the Swiss group Ringier Sports Media Group, to proceed with collective redundancies.

This message informs workers that they will be able to appoint a representative committee to negotiate in this context.

Luis Simões, himself an employee of the newspaper A Bola, explained that commissions have been formed, one for each company, and that they should be communicated by tomorrow.

There are about 80 people in the two lists of targeted workers, and Luis Simões indicated that among them there are employees who were covered by the layoff agreement, but who were unable to access social security quotas to receive unemployment benefits. Of these lists, about 40 are journalists, and the rest are page planners, IT professionals, accounting professionals and other professions.

“At the moment we cannot say what we are going to do because we do not yet know the background” to this dismissal, the union leader stressed, saying they will work legally to try to challenge the process. “To act, we need to know the prerequisites for collective dismissal,” he emphasized.

The President of the Union of Journalists also said that the dismissed workers were placed on another floor of the building where the group works. “So, on the third floor we are working on the second,” he emphasized, adding that “there was a beginning when services were not booked, but now they are booking again.”

Luis Simões also admitted that it is “very difficult” to resolve the process before the end of the year.

The union president once again noted that about 100 workers are protected from collective dismissal until dismissal by mutual consent.

The Ringier group contacted by Lusa did not want to add further information to statements it had made in the past.

On September 1, the group confirmed that it has an “ongoing decision-making process” that it “will not talk about until it is properly completed.”

The group also said it has “good communications with its workers and has maintained a constructive dialogue with the union from the outset, with which [se] often seen”, concluding that “he is committed to preserving the legacy of Ah Bol in its print, television and digital versions, so this process represents a fundamental and inevitable step to ensure its future and maintain its status as a leader in sports media.” in Portugal”.

Ringier Sports Media Group (RSMG) announced on July 17 that it has completed the acquisition of Sociedade Vicra Desportiva, including A Bola, and AutoFoco magazine, and has appointed Felipe Montesinos Gómez as CEO of digital strategy.