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By Dineo Faku 
13h ago
CAPE TOWN – Organized labor has won a major victory after the Labor Court today ruled that reductions cannot proceed at South African Airways (SAA).
Labor court judge Andre van Niekerk ruled that SAA and the conduct of company rescue professionals (BRP) by issuing a Section 189 notice to unions of the South African National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) and the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) was procedurally unfair.
In his view, Van Niekerk said SAA and BRPs should withdraw their Section 189 notices to unions.
“The remedy I seek to provide is one that serves to rectify the alleged act of injustice (such as) the premature issuance of Section 189 notices,” said Van Niekerk at his trial. Section 189A of the Labor Relations Act allows employers to fire employees for operational requirements.
Van Niekerk also said that nothing in the order prevented SAA and BRPs from offering or that any company employee accepted any voluntary reduction offer.
NUMSA spokesman Phakamile Hlubi confirmed that the court had ruled that the reductions could not proceed without a commercial rescue plan.
“No commercial rescue plan, no reductions,” said Hlubi.
NUMSA and SACCA filed an urgent request asking the court to declare Section 189 notices issued in March illegal.
The unions wanted the right to be considered in the government-sponsored training layoff scheme, rather than being curtailed in terms of the collective agreement.
They said the reduction notices were issued in a hurry without exhaustive consideration of the situation at SAA.
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