Legal Tribunal, Aleem Shah has dismissed Fiji Airways application to strike out former Fiji Airways flight attendants’ grievances in the Employment Relations Tribunal.
The flight attendants’ contracts were terminated in May last year as part of the COVID-19 cost-cutting exercise.
The former Fiji Airways employees are not happy with the way their contracts were terminated and have filed for redress.
Fiji Airways had applied to strike the matter out on the basis that the flight attendants failed to file an appeal under the Collective Agreement and had also said that the Employment Relations Act requires that internal appeals are exhausted before a grievance is reported.
The flight attendants through lawyer Jon Apted had argued that the appeal provision in the Collective Agreement only applies to disciplinary dismissals and these were not disciplinary dismissals.
They had also argued that even if someone fails to exhaust an internal appeal system before reporting a grievance to Mediation Services, that does not mean the grievance should be struck out.
The Tribunal accepted the flight attendants' argument.
The grievances will now proceed to hearing.
The matter will be called on 22nd March for further directions.
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