A strike by members of the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) over benefits for ground staff and cabin crew at South African Airways (SAA) attracted only 34 members of the 4‚000-strong bargaining unit‚ the airline said on Thursday (18 July).
SAA spokeswoman Dileseng Koetle said it was "business as usual" at the airline after a call for industrial action appeared to have fizzled to nothing. The strike came after airline management and representatives from Satawu failed to sign an agreement over increases to salaries and benefits on Tuesday (16 July).
On Wednesday (17 July) Satawu said SAA management had "undermined" employees by unilaterally implementing a wage increase at the airline despite the fact employees had still been considering an improved offer from SAA.
Last week SAA raised its offer to increase basic pay‚ medical aid and housing allowances by 6.5% from a previous offer of 6.23%.
SAA said it had already increased pay by 6.23% for the past pay date and should members agree to the improved offer the difference in salary would be paid over in their next pay checks.
Satawu and the United Association of SA (Uasa) were issued with strike certificates by the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration last week after negotiations reached a deadlock.
Following the unions' issue of its notice to strike‚ SAA revised its offer‚ based‚ it said‚ on the affordability of the increases.
"We will continue to monitor the strike and we have contingency plans in place to ensure that there is no disruption to our operations‚" Koetle said.
The outstanding issue for both unions appears to be meal allowances for cabin crew when travelling abroad. Uasa said it would seek to resolve this outside of the current negotiations while Satawu has maintained that all issues of bargaining unit members should be resolved before an agreement is signed.
Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge
