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The SAA Pilots Association has received a lockout notice which means its members will be banned from the SAA workplace beginning at 12 noon on Friday, December 18. (Photo: Pxfuel.com)
Negotiations between SAA’s Joint Business Rescue Professionals (BRP) and SAA’s Pilots Association have reached a relentless deadlock. On Wednesday, the BRPs issued a 48-hour notice to close the union, starting at 12 noon on Friday.
In September, SAA business rescue professionals filed a series of lawsuits with the SAA Pilots Association (SAAPA).
These were the new terms and conditions of employment and the new salary scales for the 88 pilots who would be hired by SAA after the restructuring of the airline. Some 620 pilots will be laid off, according to advisory S189A issued in July.
In addition to the new conditions, SAAPA was required to agree to the termination of the Regulatory Agreement (RA) that governs the terms and conditions under which SAA pilots are employed (and laid off and laid off). The union also had to accept the statutory minimum severance pay of one week’s pay for a full year of service, under the Basic Employment Conditions Law, but substantially less than that stipulated in the RA.
Negotiations stalled and SAAPA accepted some, but not all, of the new terms and conditions. Consequently, on October 30, SAA referred the dispute to the Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration Commission (CCMA).
Once again, the parties could not reach an agreement and on November 30 the legal deadline of 30 days mentioned in the Labor Relations Law expired.
“The new terms and conditions and salary scales are essential for the competitive and successful new SAA, which will initially require 88 pilots, to be profitable and more productive,” the joint BRPs, Siviwe Dongwana and Les Matuson said in a statement.
The proposed new terms include hours of work and rest that are aligned with the Civil Aviation Authority and should give SAA a better chance of being a sustainable airline, once it has completed the business rescue process, they say.
“SAAPA received a notification from SAA today, giving the union 48 hours notice of a lockout,” says Grant Back, SAAPA president. “SAAPA has offered considerable concessions in the negotiations to date.”
The BRPs respond that the Regulatory Agreement is a sticking point. It does not comply with the Companies Law, the Public Finance Management Law, or the SAA supply chain policy regarding, among others, the process of acquiring hotel rooms for pilots, they say.
Furthermore, as a consequence of the seniority provisions, it “indirectly and unfairly discriminates against pilots on the basis of race and gender.”
The closure means that SAAPA members will be banned from the SAA workplace beginning at 12 noon on Friday, December 18, until such time as SAAPA accepts the demands made in the closure letter.
These include:
- Termination of the RA and all other collective agreements entered into between SAA and SAAPA;
- Acceptance of the new terms and conditions of employment for pilots;
- Acceptance of severance pay for one week per full year of service; and
- Acceptance of the new salary scales for captains and first officers, that is, all pilots.
SAAPA members will continue to be excluded and will not be paid in compliance with this block until SAAPA agrees to the terms of this block.
“We have spent a lot of time negotiating commitments with all the relevant stakeholders of the airline. The proposed new terms and conditions are fair and competitive for a regional African airline, ”say Matuson and Dongwana. “SAA has one of the highest cost bases in terms of pilot salaries, meal allowances, sick leave and pay, and travel reimbursement benefits internationally. This cannot continue if SAA’s business rescue is to be successful. “
For its part, SAAPA seeks legal advice and will continue to act in the best interest of its members. “We support our members who have not earned a salary since April 2020,” says Back. DM / BM
