The labor dispute at UBSthe company that manages Uber in Andorrahas reached the Batllia. Three fired drivers who had promoted a worker representation initiative have decided to take their cases to justicebecause they consider that they were kicked out in retaliation for their union activity. The first claim, which was presented last week, has already been processed and, according to one of those affected, the second has also been registered and the third will be presented in the coming days.
The demand that has already reached the Batllia and to which he has had access diary question the dismissal of a worker who had a two-year contractvalid until December 2027. The driver received two consecutive letters: one “disciplinary” on August 4 and another “non-causal” the following day, when he was already on medical leave. The defense maintains that the disciplinary reasons were unjustified and that the company tried to change the nature of the dismissal by warning of the difficulties in accrediting the faults attributed.
One of those affected has not received the medical leave benefit for two months
Specifically, UBS alleged “disloyalty or abuse of trust and a voluntary and continuous decrease in work performance”. The lawyer argues that the first fault had already expired, because the company knew the facts from May 29 and did not communicate the dismissal until August 4, exceeding the legal deadline of sixty days. Regarding the low performance, he complains that no objective data was provided nor was the period specified in which it would have occurred. In addition, it maintains that the worker had previously been sanctioned for similar conduct, which could constitute a double sanction for the same acts.
The complaint also alleges possible union discrimination. According to the letter, the three workers who headed the labor organization initiative were dismissed successively between August and October. The defense assures that UBS knew about the vindictive activity before the first farewell and considers that the coincidence of the dismissals constitutes an indication of retaliation. To base the interpretation, he invokes the jurisprudence of Superior Court and the legal protection of workers who promote collective representation initiatives.
The plaintiff requests that the dismissal be declared unjustified or, alternatively, discriminatory for union reasons. He claims 8,975.05 euros, after deducting the 1,108.33 euros judicially confiscated by the company. The amount includes an indemnity of 5,650.46 euros and 4,432.92 euros for outstanding wages, unused holidays and differences in the nighttime bonus. In an alternative request, the claimed amount drops to 8,209.47 euros. It also requires regularizing the contributions corresponding to the CASS.
At the same time, one of those affected reports that he has not received the benefit for medical leave for two months due to discrepancies in the communication of his dismissal to the CASS. The situation has left him without income to meet daily expenses and has forced him to apply for social assistance to be able to pay the rent. A resolution is now pending to unlock the accumulated amounts and put an end to two months of economic uncertainty.
FIRST STEP TO ELECT EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATION
Another of the planned steps is to provide the table with the corresponding labor census, with the necessary data to determine which employees can participate in the elections. This body will be in charge of supervising the electoral procedure and guaranteeing that the election of representatives takes place in accordance with current legislation. The communique, protected by Law 31/2018 on labor relations, does not yet specify the date of the votes, the number of representatives to be chosen or the calendar for presenting candidacies. These aspects will be defined during the following phases of the procedure.
UBS ensures that the purpose of the communication is guarantee the knowledge and transparency of the preparatory actions. Once the electoral board has been formally constituted, the company will inform the staff of the next steps until the elections are held, which will allow the employees to choose their interlocutors before the management.
