Labour court dismisses SAA pilots’ bid to end lockout

An application by the South African Airline Pilots’ Association (Saapa) to have the lockout of its members declared unlawful was on Thursday once again dismissed by the Labour Court with costs.

Furthermore, the court  expressed its support for the business rescue practitioners‘ (BRP’s) view the union was abusing the court process.

This was Saapa’s attempt to challenge the Labour Court’s judgment which held that the lockout of the pilots was lawful and protected in terms of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA).

Business rescue practitioner Siviwe Dongwana said the BRPs were hopeful the judgement was going to bring about a way forward in ending the impasse between SAA and Saapa.

“We remain committed to find each other with Saapa as we did with other affected parties in arriving at a compromise of amounts owing to them,” Dongwana said.

ALSO READ: Liquidators sue Highveld Syndication BRP and Nova chair for R110m

“We believe a speedy settlement is in the best interests of the majority of Saapa’s members. It is common cause that the termination of the pilots’ regulating agreement is necessary for the long-term sustainability of a restructured airline.”

Judge Andre van Niekerk also said Saapa had not presented a convincing argument that the Labour Appeal Court would come to a conclusion different to that reached by the Labour Court and merely repeated the submissions made during the initial hearing.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.