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South Africa

SAA, unions meet for talks

───   12:06 Sat, 16 Nov 2019

SAA, unions meet for talks | News Article

South African Airways (SAA) and unions on Saturday met for talks the troubled state-run carrier hopes can bring an end to a crippling strike that it says could push it to collapse.


Unions representing more than half of SAA's workforce called the strike from Friday, forcing SAA to cancel hundreds of flights, and said it would continue until their demands were met.

The airline said the action would cost it R50-million per day.

The talks will be mediated by dispute resolution body The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

The unions' demands include an 8 percent wage increase, and they also object to SAA's plan to cut over 900 jobs.

Phakamile Hlubi Majola, spokeswoman for the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), one of the unions that called the strike, said they also want SAA to commit to bringing costly outsourced services back in house, which are blowing a substantial hole in SAA's budget.

"Otherwise we'll be right back here six months from now with them saying they've got no money," she said by phone, adding the unions could not move on other demands before this one was met.

While it expects some international flights to restart from Sunday, SAA extended its cancellations for national and regional flights into Monday. The unions rejected SAA's most recent wage offer late on Thursday.

"The unions have not really moved an inch in so far as their stance is concerned and this is what we are urging them to do," SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali told Reuters.

Reuters

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