The temporary suspension of activities seems to be the option chosen by the leaders of the Cameroon Airlines Corporation (Camair-co) during this period of health crisis. To do this, the Cameroonian public airline has embarked on the road to the layoff of a large part of its staff.
In a letter signed on April 23 and addressed to the Minister of Transport, who is also Board Chairman of the company, the Director General of Camair-co provides insights into the measure to layoff part of the company’s personnel. Louis Georges Njipendi Kouotou intends to suspend 371 employment contracts for a maximum of 6 months.
The employees concerned are those whose “activity is directly impacted by the suspension of operations,” he said. More specifically, these are sales personnel, station personnel, flight personnel, but also “administrative and support personnel, not essential during this period of slowdown”. Louis Georges Njipendi Kouotou specified to his hierarchy that consultation meetings successively with the labour inspectors, the staff representatives and the corporation of airline pilots have already been required to raise awareness among actors concerned about the current context, which explains their temporary dismissal.
An approach that seems to have been unpopular with staff representatives, some of whom responded to absent subscribers. The Director General places their action under the sign of “bad faith”.
Despite the layoff of some of its staff and the suspension of its activities, the airline will have to discharge a certain number of charges. These include the salary costs of the 206 retained during the period of suspension of activity (938,790,000 CFA francs) and the compensation of 371 people placed in technical unemployment (540,493,822 CFA francs). For the latter, their remuneration will be calculated in accordance with the provisions of decree No. 001 / CAB / MTPS of February 14, 1995 fixing the rates of compensation during the period of suspension of the employment contract due to technical unemployment. It will be calculated in proportion to the monthly salary, ie 50% for the first month, 40% for the second, 35% for the third, 30% for the fourth, 25% for the fifth and 20% for the sixth month. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the company had initially demanded 2 billion FCFA to keep the ailing company afloat . But till this moment, the money has not been disbursed. 8
