Union Strikes due to Financial Crash in South African Airways

The union strike at South African Airways (SAA) entered its sixth day last Wednesday.

In addition, the discussions between the two unions and the airline’s management have endured a deadlock over the question of wage surges.

Since Friday, representatives of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA and the SA Cabin Crew Association have been on strike over wages.

There were also possible job cuts, according to the spokesperson.

Meanwhile, spokesperson Numsa Phakamile Hlubi-Majola addressed hundreds of workers in union regalia and had issued SAA with a sign to embark on a secondary strike at Air Chefs, which offers in-flight catering for SAA.

On Wednesday morning, the statement has been revealed at Kempton Park.

Phakamile Hlubi-Majola added, “As of yesterday, we served them with a notice of intent to embark on a secondary at Air Chefs, which is going to affect a lot of airlines. We are at war and are fighting for survival.”

This comes a day after Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan rallied with unions at their request.

Efforts To Conserve The Airline

In a statement, the minister revealed that the government has been devoting to save the airline. There are also further bailouts that are out of the question.

On the other side, Hlubi-Majola said that even with negotiations, the two players were “back where we were last week.”

Hlubi-Majola added, “They are offering 5.9%, and it is unacceptable to our members. We are continuing with the strike.”

Lastly, “If they are not committed to saving this airline, we are going to do everything in our power.”

SAA has believed that it does not have enough money. Moreover, it had to ground a quantity of domestic and regional flights due to the industrial action.

This has particular relations to the 8% wage increase demanded by unions.

Earlier, the airline announced it has aimed to resume “selected flights.” This is from Johannesburg to Cape Town, Durban, and Victoria Falls.

At this time, negotiations are on the process of progressing.