RAM-airline pilots conflict: how was the AMPL able to resist its dissolution for so long?

Despite a judgment ordering its dissolution, the instinct for survival took over. The Moroccan Association of Airline Pilots (AMPL) continues to exist, taking advantage of a defect in the form that delayed the execution of the judicial liquidation procedure.

Although dissolved by court order, following a long standoff with the management of the national airline, Royal Air Maroc, the Moroccan Association of Airline Pilots (AMPL) continues to ensure the regular payment of salaries and other levies. mandatory (CNSS contributions, income tax) to employees of this permanent structure. In total, seven people are still currently paid.

“It is a criminal offence. They continue to use the funds of the association which no longer has a legal personality, even though they know that the court has appointed an expert liquidator”, protests a source close to the lawyers defending RAM, questioned. by Le360 on the fate of this dispute which hit the headlines at the height of the health crisis.

The national company had then just parted with 180 airline pilots, in the context of a vast economic redundancy operation.

On November 25, 2020, following a complaint filed by RAM, the civil court of first instance of Casablanca had indeed ruled in favor of the “nullity of association”, ordering the dissolution of the AMPL and the closure of its headquarters. The judge also ruled that it will be up to Mohamed Tougani, a chartered accountant, to lead the liquidation procedure for this association.

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The court had also considered that the AMPL, by brandishing the threat of a strike, through the press, while denouncing (and therefore rejecting) the social plan announced by the CEO of RAM, Abdelhamid Addou, had exceeded its prerogatives as association, and had become, by these demands, a de facto union.

Subsequently, the AMPL’s defense used all means of appeal to challenge the decision to dissolve. She also attempted a third-party opposition procedure once morest the judgment of first instance, while appealing to the civil chamber of the Casablanca Court of Appeal.

In these two appeals, the AMPL’s defense relied on what it describes as a formal defect, arguing that RAM brought its action once morest “الجمعية المغربية للطيارين المدنيين”, which, translated into French, corresponds to the “Moroccan Association of Civilian Aircrew” and which, in fact, has no legal existence. However, the most exact Arabic translation of the AMPL corresponds rather to “الجمعية المغربية لربابنة الطائرات”.

AMPL headquarters, Riviera district, Casablanca.

© : khalil Essalak / Le360

“When RAM filed its lawsuit, it obtained its decision to dissolve using the French name of the association, as it appeared in the statutes”, we explain on the side of the lawyers defending the airline company.

But it was a waste of time for the AMPL, which was subsequently dismissed at first instance (following the so-called “third-party opposition” procedure), as well as, subsequently, on appeal. To remedy this situation and avoid any possible confusion or poor translation, the Court of Appeal wished to specify in the reasons for its decision, dated June 29, 2021, the name of the association in both languages, in Arabic and in French.

© : DR

© : DR

Although AMPL staff continue to receive their salaries, the association’s premises, located at 28 rue Frédéric Le Maître, in the Riviera district (in Casablanca), have been closed since September 23, 2021, the day the registry of the court called on the police to take possession of the association’s property, before handing over the keys to these premises to the liquidator expert.

The use of public force is justified by the fact that the execution of the judgment came up once morest, a few days earlier, fierce resistance on the part of the employees of this association, in the presence of some members of the office leaving the ‘AMPL.

Question: how does the AMPL still manage to pay salaries, when it is the subject of a dissolution judgment confirmed on appeal? “The expert liquidator might not block the two bank accounts of the association, because he does not have the necessary legal documents”, we temper on the side of the AMPL. The association’s lawyer had to write a letter to the banks where the AMPL holds accounts, in order to alert them to a “defective form”: that concerning the name of the association targeted by the decision to dissolve.

Contacted by Le360, the chartered accountant in charge of the liquidation of the AMPL, Mohamed Tougani, claims to have already notified in July 2021 the bank agencies managing the accounts of the association. “I was then told that the decision is not taken at their level,” he recalls.

On the strength of the judgment confirmed on appeal, Mohamed Tougani then notified the legal entities of the two banks (to their head offices directly), which, he said, acknowledged receipt of the document, but without any concrete results having been seen. nowadays. “Does a bank have to enforce a court decision? The question deserves to be asked”, wonders this accountant.

Faced with what is in fact a refusal from the banks, Mohamed Tougani decided to launch a new legal action and was able to obtain, on February 23, 2022, a judgment authorizing them to allow the liquidator to take possession of the accounts of the bank. ‘AMPL. Indeed, the civil court of first instance of Casablanca ordered the banks concerned to make all the documents available to this chartered accountant and to authorize him to consult and manage these bank accounts, with a view to the liquidation definitive of the AMPL.

Despite these complications, which delayed access to the association’s bank accounts, the AMPL liquidation process continues, according to the accountant. “A bailiff notified the banks which, in all likelihood, have already started to execute this judgment,” he assured. Mohamed Tougani cites as proof of this a telephone call he received a few days ago from the owners of the villa hosting the AMPL headquarters. They wanted, for the first time, to complain regarding the non-payment of rent due for the months of June and July 2022.

Mohamed Tougani also claims to have asked the court to appoint an expert to assess the material identified inside the AMPL headquarters. “A first auction took place, but no buyer showed up,” he said.

According to this chartered accountant in charge of the liquidation of the AMPL, “a second expertise was recently carried out, in July. A new auction is scheduled for September. The proceeds of the sale will be deposited in an account with the court.

But what worries Mohamed Tougani above all, in the same way as the airline pilots who are members of the AMPL, is the fate of the 7 employees in this structure: they receive modest salaries and perform precarious jobs (security , service, cleaning). In total, this is a payroll that does not exceed 22,000 dirhams per month.

“In this type of collective proceedings, the employees are the weak link. It will be necessary to find a solution adapted to the employees of the association who have only their salary to live on, ”he maintains, affirming that he intends to contact the labor inspectorate so that a solution can be found for these employees, so that their rights are preserved, while negotiating their departure under honorable conditions.

Finally, it should be noted that since the announcement of the judgment of dissolution of the AMPL, pronounced in November 2020, the airline pilots who are members of this association have stopped paying their dues (which was set at 300 dirhams per month) , leaving behind them excess cash, up to… 4 million dirhams.