Libra Group To Cut 50% Of Employees and End Boarding Operations.

After Being Ordered by the Court to Maintain Activities at the Ponta da Praia Terminal, Grupo Libra Claims in a Hearing on Monday, the 8th, to Reduce Staff and Cease Shipping Operations on the 28th.

Grupo Libra confirmed, in a hearing at the 2nd Bankruptcy and Judicial Reorganizations Court of the São Paulo State Court (TJ–SP), that it will reduce its workforce and cease shipping operations, maintaining only bonded warehousing services. The session was scheduled after Libra communicated to workers that operations would end on the 28th. The court demanded explanations from Libra, since the company filed for Judicial Recovery in July 2018 to avoid bankruptcy and has a lease contract in effect until May 2020.

At the meeting, which lasted about two hours, present were the director-president of the São Paulo State Dock Company (Codesp), Casemiro Tércio Carvalho, along with two directors and lawyers from Grupo Libra. According to the Port Authority, the terminal reaffirmed the end of shipments but stated it will continue to store cargo.

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The director-president of the Dock Company questions which metal containers will be moved given the transfer of operations to other terminals. “What I will actually do is oversee it.” Since, according to the lease contract, the company must move at least 400,000 container units per year.

The company issued a statement informing that it will maintain bonded warehousing activities at its terminal and said that, within the stipulated timeframe, “it will present in its Judicial Recovery the project for adapting its structures for this new phase.”

About the Employees

With approximately 800 employees, Carvalho reports that the group’s directors confirmed the need to reduce the workforce. Although nothing has been formalized, a 50% reduction was mentioned.

Grupo Libra preferred not to comment on the employment issue. The company limited itself to saying that it presented to the court “the necessary explanations to clarify issues regarding the announcement of the shipowners changing the operation of their services from Libra to another terminal in the Port of Santos.”

Union

The Settaport – Union of Land Employees in Water Transport and Port Operators of the State of São Paulo, representing approximately 500 professionals, reported it has filed a labor lawsuit against the company this past week.

The decision aims to guarantee the rights of the workers, informs Settaport’s president, Francisco Nogueira.

Nogueira hopes the company will maintain jobs until the end of the operation contract at the terminal, which will allow for the transition and retention of workers.

The president of Settaport was present on April 1st with the company’s directors, but the talks were not encouraging. “They painted the worst-case scenario. They said there will be no operation starting on the 28th, and there is no way to sustain a thousand professionals doing nothing at the terminal.”

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