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A South African Airways plane on the apron at Frankfurt Airport in 2018.
Silas Stein / Picture Alliance via Getty Images
- SAA’s business rescue professionals have given members of the SAA Pilots Association a 48-hour notice of a lockout that will take effect from Friday.
- The lockout comes after negotiations on the new agreement with the union stalled and all internal dispute processes were exhausted.
- According to business rescue professionals, the new agreement is necessary to ensure a sustainable airline.
SAA’s business rescue professionals have issued a lockout notice to the SAA Pilots Association (SAAPA), effective Friday.
The business rescue practitioners issued a statement on Wednesday stating that the lockout had occurred when negotiations on the new agreement with the union had stalled and all internal dispute processes had been exhausted. The matter was also referred to the Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration Commission on October 30.
A lockout occurs when the employer and employees cannot resolve a labor dispute. It means that employees cannot render their services or charge. It applies until the employees agree to the employer’s demands.
The lockout will apply to the 383 members of SAAPA from 12:00 on Friday, December 18, until the union accepts a series of demands presented by the employers, the statement said.
According to business rescue professionals, on September 7, 2020, SAA communicated certain demands to SAAPA and its members: it detailed new terms and conditions of employment and new salary scales for all pilots required to restructure SAA, in accordance with notice S189A issued on July 18, 2020.
“The new terms and conditions and pay scales are essential for the new competitive and successful SAA, which will initially require 88 pilots, to be profitable and more productive.
“The new proposed terms include hours of work and rest that are aligned with the Civil Aviation Authority and will give SAA a better opportunity to be a sustainable airline, once it has completed the business rescue process,” said the professionals of the business recovery “.
Under the new agreement, the salaries of all pilots will be reduced by 50%. The per diem allowance (allowance per day) will also be reduced from $ 155 (approximately R2 300) per day, depending on the destination, to $ 70 (approximately R1,000) per day, regardless of destination.
In addition to having to accept the new terms, SAAPA was required to agree to the termination of the Regulatory Agreement. According to business rescue practitioners, the Regulatory Agreement does not comply with the Companies Act, the Public Finance Management Act, or SAA’s supply chain policy regarding the pilot hotel acquisition process.
“The new agreement is intended to remove the generosity from the Regulation Agreement, because the Regulation Agreement confers very broad and generous benefits to SAA pilots,” said the business rescue professionals.
Subsequently, the parties entered into more extensive negotiations regarding the termination of the Regulatory Agreement and all other collective agreements entered into between SAA and SAAPA.
According to business rescue professionals, SAA has tried in the past to address issues related to the Regulatory Agreement with SAAPA, without success. “In November 2019, after consulting with the Department of Public Companies, the SAA filed a lawsuit in the Labor Court and the Superior Court to declare the Regulatory Agreement unconstitutional, illegal and invalid and allow the termination of the Agreement with reasonable notice. These requests are still pending, “the statement read.
“We agree that the Regulatory Agreement, which we have asked to be terminated, is illegal and unconstitutional and, as a consequence of seniority provisions, indirectly and unfairly discriminates against pilots on the basis of race and gender,” said the corporate rescuers. .
They added that the new terms and conditions were “fair and competitive” for an African regional airline.
“In fact, SAA has one of the highest cost bases in terms of pilot salaries, per diem, sick leave and travel reimbursement benefits internationally. This cannot continue if SAA’s business rescue is successful. “.
