SAA secures court order against cabin crew strike

© Tomasz Wyszolmirski – 123RF.com

In a statement on Wednesday, 3 May 2017, the national carrier said it had successfully argued at the Labour Court to have an interim order granted on 26th April 2017 confirmed as a final order against the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) and its members.

This is after the labour union appealed to the court against the interim order granted in favour of the airline.

The union embarked on strike action last week demanding a $170 (about R2,200) a day meal allowance when travelling overseas. Currently, crew members are given $131 (about R1,711), which the union says hasn’t increased in the last six years.

On Wednesday, the national carrier said it had approached the Labour Court and argued successfully to have SACCA and its members interdicted from embarking on industrial action and declaring the industrial action an unprotected strike.

“Whilst we appreciate that the appeal by SACCA has been overturned and that an interim order has been made final, we do not see this as a matter of winners and losers,” said SAA spokesperson, Tlali Tlali.

“For us the key objective remains focusing on those things we must immediately pay attention to, so that the company remains in business and its employees looked after. Those things include exploring avenues that will lead to a resolution of disputed issues between the airline and the affected employees,” said Tlali.

SAA said cabin crew are key to the successful and safe operation of the airline.

“As customer facing ambassadors their work satisfaction and morale remain high priority. In addition, we must ensure business continuity through stable operations and provide our customers with a sense of travel certainty,” he said.

Dispute resolution

The Board of Directors remains committed towards supporting management and the labour union to find lasting solutions to issues under dispute.

In addition, the national carrier said it is inviting SACCA back to the negotiation table to have a facilitated dispute resolution process during the next two months.

“We are inviting SACCA back to the negotiating table as soon as possible and would like parties to have open minds when deliberating and considering options. It is in the interests of all parties to find lasting solutions to the issues in dispute. We remain confident that a final solution to this matter will be found in the coming days,” said Tlali.

The financial sustainability of the airline remains of paramount importance to the Board and Executive of SAA.

The programme to ensure that the airline’s financial situation is turned around is in full steam to ensure that SAA returns to profitability once again.