Numsa, Sacca to protest against ‘corruption’ and job losses at SAA

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and the South African Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) announced they would embark on protests at the Department Public Enterprises on Tuesday.

The protest will start at 9am and end around midday in Pretoria.

The purpose of the picket is to bring about awareness against corruption and job losses at South African Airlines (SAA).

Numsa and Sacca are fighting against Voluntary Severe Packages (VSP), which were signed by some SAA staff.

“Accepting a VSP means you have signed away your rights and you may not come back”, Sacca President Zazi Nsibanyoni-Mugambi said.

The union’s argument is that SAA did not manage the layoff scheme in a professional manner. At least 130 Sacca members employed at the airline are on a verge of dismissal with the training lay off is coming to an end.

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“These workers should have been absorbed into the new airline, but SAA has mismanaged this process entirely.”

During this process, the airline was re-employing staff who signed VSP’s, which was seen as an unfair and corrupt way to handle things.

“At the same time, ordinary workers who were absorbed into the new airline, lost their benefits and conditions of employment.

“However, the packages that management and specialists receive are more generous than that of ordinary workers”, Nsibanyoni-Mugambi continued.

“Workers at SAA are suffering whilst the same management that brought the airline to the point of destruction, are rewarded with generous packages”, Numsa General Secretary Irvin Jim said.

South African Airways begins talks with unions over strike

In 2019, South African Airways started mediated talks with unions, one day after its workers launched an open-ended strike that forced the embattled airline to ground hundreds of flights.

More than 3,000 workers including cabin crew, technical and ground staff started striking to demand higher pay and to protest against restructuring plans involving heavy job losses.

Unions first threatened to strike after SAA announced that almost 1 000 employees could lose their jobs as part of a restructuring process.

Talks with management deadlocked after they failed to agree on wage hikes, prompting unions to press on with their threats.

Compiled by Lethabo Malatsi. Additional information by AFP

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