The Andalusian TSJA endorses the closure of Onda Jaén

The Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia supports the collective dismissal of its 52 workers since it is a service without public utility and with a deficit result

Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia has endorsed the extinction and closure of the municipal radio and television Onda Jaén and supports the collective dismissal of its 52 workers since it is a service without public utility and with a loss for the City Council of over 600 million euros.

With this ruling, the Andalusian high court dismisses the lawsuit filed by the works council, CCOO and CSIF with which they sought to revoke the extinction of Onda Jaén and to declare null or inadmissible the dismissals carried out by the Jaén City Council in order to force the reinstatement of the staff.

The TSJA considers that "it must be considered adopted in accordance with the applicable regulations, both from the procedural point of view and from the competence of the corporation itself" defending that the collective dismissal was based on "the lack of public utility of said service, regardless of its deficient result."

The Court emphasizes that municipal television “lacks sufficient external resources, so it must be paid for by the municipal budget itself” despite its “poor follow-up” of audiences.

The CSIF union in Jaén has already announced that it will appeal to the Supreme Court against the TSJA ruling on Onda Jaén, whose resolution they have described as a “hard blow” for the workers.

The municipal radio and television station stopped broadcasting in 2019 after a fire in its facilities.