Comair strike ends after 23% pay hike deal

Bob Adams via Wikimedia Commons

Striking ground staff at Comair, the British Airways franchisee that operates kulula.com, accepted an effective 23% pay increase this past Tuesday. Other details of the agreement relating to "internal matters", such as transformation and safety procedures on board flights, were expected to be discussed with Comair employees yesterday, said operations manager responsible for the Uasa aviation sector workers, Jannem Goussard.

The employees have been on strike since last Wednesday, with Comair instituting a defensive lockout on striking employees at the weekend. The strike came after salary talks - which began in November - reached a deadlock in February. The employees were demanding a 30% salary increase over three years. The increase included inflation as measured by the consumer price index, plus extra to allow for the "extraordinary" increase in the cost of living and interest rate hikes.

Comair was offering an equivalent 22.5% increase spread over three years. Striking employees had accepted the effective 23% increase, following an intervention by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, Goussard said.

The employees - including service agents, ticket sales agents, ramp controllers, airport control management, and special service agents - had initially rejected the offer in a meeting between Uasa and management on Friday.

The staff will receive a 10% increase in the first year, backdated to January, and 7% and 6% next year and in 2018, respectively. "They employees are happy with the agreement. The company was unable to move from its last decision," Goussard said.

Comair CEO Erik Venter said both parties had been open to resolving the matter. "We are pleased we were able to resolve the wage dispute in a peaceful manner, and we look forward to putting this behind us."

Source: Business Day