SAA to approach labour court
South African Airways (SAA) plans to approach the labour court in an attempt to interdict some of the demands made by striking unions.
The cash-strapped national carrier claims the demands by the National Union of Metalworkers of South African and the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) were not part of the initial dispute.
The two unions downed tools at the carrier on Friday, forcing it to cancel domestic, regional and international flights.
Workers are demanding an 8% wage increase while SAA is offering 5.9%.
The unions also want outsourced services to be bought back in-house, and they also object to SAA’s plans to axe more than 900 jobs.
The two unions have been picketing outside the head offices of SAA for the past five days.
Numsa and SACCA are also refusing to retract a statement claiming that the airline is unsafe due to the use of unqualified personnel during the strike.
But speaking in Kempton Park on Tuesday, the national carrier’s acting CEO Zuks Ramasia reiterated that all operations are compliant with the standards of the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA).
“SAA is taking appropriate legal action for these statements to be retracted,” Ramaisa said.
Listen to Ramaisa below: