Trust in News, owner of Visão, announces collective dismissal of 80 workers - SJ

Trust in News (TiN) announced on Friday the collective dismissal of 80 workers from the group, owner of titles such as Visão and Caras, asking them to “continue working without pay”, the Journalists' Union (SJ) announced today.

“The management of the Journalists' Union (SJ) was confronted with the dramatic news of the dismissal, on Friday, July 25, of all employees of the Trust in News (TiN) group,” reads a statement released today.

According to the union, this "is an outcome that began to take shape months ago and whose true contours must be determined in all dimensions, from journalistic to economic, financial, political and even judicial."

In the statement, the SJ points to the “incomprehensible and intolerable stance” of TiN's insolvency administrator, who, when delivering, in person, the dismissal notice to the company's approximately 80 employees, asked them “to continue working to keep the bonds alive, with the argument of generating revenue, despite not being given any guarantee of remuneration”.

"The SJ fears that a sale is being prepared at a bargain price, without 'the inconvenience and discomfort' of having people to pay salaries to and guarantee rights," he claims.

As he explains, with the notice period varying from 30 to 75 days, depending on the seniority of each employee, "essentially, people who are owed June's salary, and soon July's, as well as holiday allowances and meal allowances for May and June, were asked to continue working without any guarantee of pay."

This is “to keep alive a business that, we suspect, will be sold 'at the 25th hour'”, he warns.

In this sense, the union warns that “anyone who agrees to continue working could be helping to save a deal whose details are not clear at this time.”

Additionally, "losing all their rights as workers with the dismissal now announced, they have no guarantee of being integrated into a company that may eventually be created."

"We remember that, in addition to people now being asked to continue working without pay, which amounts to slavery, workers, in the hope of a redemptive sale, may be contributing to saving titles that, in the future, could be used to produce journalism completely different from what they did in these years, in which they enhanced the profession and contributed to a more enlightened society, given the rigorous scrutiny that much of what was done journalistically in the TiN group was subjected to, while it had the financial capacity," warns the SJ.

The union says we live in times when "the fragility of journalism is of interest to many social actors, some of whom are happy about the unemployment of these 80 people."

"We know that there are many people who want to see the end of this profession, who don't want to be scrutinized, who want to lie freely, because they don't work for nor do they want a society that is more just and equitable," he laments.

In this scenario, the union structure considers it “even more regrettable and deeply incomprehensible” that, almost two months after taking office, the Minister of the Presidency, Leitão Amaro, who oversees social communication, “has still not responded to the request for a hearing requested by the SJ shortly after his official inauguration”.

In June, the Judicial Court of the District of West Lisbon rejected the insolvency plan presented by TiN, ordering the closure of its activity: “In these terms, I decide not to approve the insolvency plan presented by Trust in News”, reads a document dated June 18, to which the Lusa news agency had access.

At the time, TiN shareholder Luís Delgado told Lusa that he intended to appeal the decision that dictated the closure of the company, which owned titles such as Visão, Exame, Jornal de Letras, Activa, Telenovelas, TV Mais and Caras.

“If possible, we will appeal the decision not to approve the insolvency plan, which was approved by 77% of creditors,” the manager stated at the time.