The decision was communicated this week by the Workers’ Union of the CGD Group Companies (STEC) on its portal, stating that the Lisbon Court of Appeal ruled Caixa must pay employees admitted up to April 30, 2017, “the differences between the amounts the defendant settled in 2018 and subsequent years, and the amounts set for that meal subsidy each year,” along with interest for late payment.
Similarly, the bank will have to “pay, during the holiday period, a meal allowance according to the amount established each year for that meal subsidy.”
The union believes the amount paid was “illicitly frozen by CGD since 2017,” resulting in an illegal reduction in workers’ compensation.
In response, a CGD source confirmed that the Lisbon Court of Appeal’s decision asserts that the public bank must pay the difference between the amount paid annually and the updated amount for each year since then, as well as follow the same procedure in the future.
The same source assured that the bank will appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice.
“CGD scrupulously complies with the agreements reached with STEC in September 2019 and January 2022,” it states, explaining that, therefore, it pays a fixed amount of 233.10 euros per year in June to employees admitted up to April 2017 “as a meal subsidy during vacations.”
The source noted that STEC filed two lawsuits some years after these agreements, requesting the annual update of the amount paid as a meal subsidy during vacations.
After CGD’s full acquittal by the first instance court, STEC appealed, and the Lisbon Court of Appeal maintained the ruling that the bank does not have to pay this subsidy to workers on partial retirement and those hired after April 2017.
