A TOTAL of $6.082million in reparation will be made by Government to 398 employees of Air Terminal Services (ATS) who were working for the company before it was forced to halt operations at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, when international borders closed in March 2020.
This was announced in Suva yesterday by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Professor Biman Prasad.
“The company, like many others around the world, faced very difficult times,” Prof Prasad said.
“In that difficult time, ATS was forced into uncharted territory.
“Thousands of lives were affected. For the employees who lost their jobs, the future became uncertain. Many families did not know where their next meal would come from.
“But I want to acknowledge this today: your struggle was not forgotten.”
He said while the decisions taken during COVID-19 were painful and may had been necessary at the time, they left emotional and financial wounds that the Coalition Government, under the stewardship of Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, was now able to correct.
The Coalition Government’s restorative gesture for the 398 ATS employees is as follows:
1. Payment of 1.5 years’ gross base pay to 176 reinstated employees.
2. Ex gratia payment of $5000 gross to each of the four medically unfit employees.
3. Ex gratia payment of $5000 gross to each of the 61 retirees and voluntary early retirees.
4. Pro-rata ex gratia payments to contracted employees as follows: a) $8000 gross each for those terminated and rejoined before December 31, 2021; b) $6000 each for those terminated and rejoined from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022.
“This compensation is more than a payout,” Prof Prasad said.
“It is a gesture of reconciliation, of acknowledgement, and of respect. It is our way of turning a page together.”
ATS recorded an accumulated loss of $7m during the COVID-19 years and recovered post-COVID-19 with a profit of $11m in 2022 and $16m in 2023, according to Prof Prasad.
The $6m compensation will be disbursed on May 19, according to the ministry.
