MasOrange says it does not share the Labor report that accuses it of having acted "bad faith" in the ERE

MADRID 22 Nov. () –

The Special Directorate of Labor and Social Security Inspection considers that MasOrange acted “in bad faith” within the framework of the employment regulation file (ERE) that will affect 650 employees of the company because, in its opinion, it hid certain information to the unions, an opinion that the telecom company does not share.

According to the report from the labor authority to which Europa Press has had access, at the time of beginning the processing of the collective dismissal, MasOrange, which is a 50/50 joint venture between Orange and MásMóvil, defined itself as a “group labor” made up of 13 companies in total, although the ERE affected only six of them, which represented almost 97% of the entire workforce.

On this issue, the Labor Inspection report emphasizes that it is at the time of processing the ERE “and not before” when MasOrange “communicates to the union representatives of the workers of companies that were considered independent companies that really make up a labor group.” .

The labor authority affirms that this situation “must be considered as a concealment of information from the workers, because if the employer really considered them to have always been part of the same work group, the fact that he only took advantage of the moment of dismissal to communicate it puts reveals the existence of a clear situation of bad faith due to the prior concealment of this fact”.

“The acting inspector understands that the issue of the existence or not of the labor group, as well as the possible express knowledge of that situation by the workers’ representatives before the start of the employment regulation procedure, is the main core of this procedure, since the validity of the entire procedure depends on its resolution in one sense or another,” adds the Labor Inspection report.

In this context, the USO union – which was not part of the ERE negotiating table in MasOrange – has filed a lawsuit before the National Court in which it requests the annulment of the negotiating commission for the collective dismissal, in which it did. The CCOO, UGT and Fetico unions participated, although the final agreement was only signed by the last two organizations.

USO considers that this report from the labor authority reinforces its position in the trials on the nullity of the single negotiating table and the ERE itself, which will begin next Tuesday, November 26, at the National Court.

“The report is very clear and forceful (…) It also refutes the company’s arguments, since it does not even recognize the existence of a commercial group, understanding that MasOrange was conceived, from the beginning, as a temporary union of companies (‘ joint venture’) between Orange and MásMóvil, which maintained their legal personality and independence,” USO added.

In this way, USO has requested both the management of MasOrange and the two unions that signed the ERE (UGT and Fetico) to stop all layoffs and the reinstatement of workers who have already been dismissed and want to rejoin.

MASORANGE DOES NOT SHARE THE OPINION OF THE REPORT

In this context, official MasOrange sources have indicated to Europa Press that the company does not share the opinion expressed by the labor authority in the report.

“The Masorange labor group does not share the opinion expressed in the report, given that said report ignores the labor reality of the conditions under which the workers of the labor group provide their services and as a result of the agreement reached with the majority of the union representation on October 16, 2024”, they have pointed out.