SAA Pilots’ Association forges ahead with strike

SAA Pilots’ Association (Saapa) has threatened to go on strike over alleged “vindictive and slanderous” conduct at the hands of the airline’s rescue practitioners, Siviwe Dongwana and Les Matuson.

The association represents the majority of pilots at the airline. The pilots have been locked out of SAA since December, following a deadlock in negotiations over the three-decade-long regulatory agreement.

Saapa has given the airline 48-hour notice prior to the start of the strike. This will be the first time in 50 years that SAA pilots embark on a strike.

“Saapa pilots have endured and withstood over three months of lock out and were last paid a year ago. The company has now realised it actually needs the highly skilled pilots it has locked out and is attempting to force a selected few back to work, while comically attempting to blame the pilots for the decision to lock them out,” says Saapa chairperson Grant Back.

Back says the rescue practitioners notified pilots at the airline of an opportunity to return to work despite the lock out.

Back told Moneyweb that the strike would ensure that the airline does not “cherry pick” pilots whenever needed because all pilots are locked out and therefore all should be treated equally.

Background

SAA seeks to nullify the regulatory agreement (RA) which gives Saapa members privileges over pilots belonging to other unions. The long-term sustainability of the airline is dependent on the termination of the RA, according to Dongwana and Matuson.

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Saapa however says it has agreed to accept demands tabled by SAA, including the demand by the Department of Public Enterprises that the pilots change the requirements for seniority for career advancement within SAA.

In  addition to agreeing to the termination of the RA, Saapa has also demanded that the lock-out pilots be retrenched “as there is simply no reason why SAA and the BRPs have not done so, other than to further their agenda and attempt to prejudice the pilots of SAA,” Back said in a statement on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, DPE Minister, Pravin Gordhan accused the union’s members of “sabotaging” the SAA rescue by withholding valuable training of pilots which “ can easily be done daily quickly in order that pilots are up to date in terms of the regulatory requirements.”

Read: Government to foot the bill for ‘restructure’ of new SAA

Back has lashed back at Gordhan’s accusations saying the pilots that are required to perform training have been locked out of the airline with the “blessing of the DPE.”

“Any attempt Saapa has made to work together with the company or the BRPs for the last 15 months, has been met with disinterest and our many attempts to assist or reach a compromise have been blocked at every opportunity.”

SAA, which has been in business rescue since December 2019, has received R7.8 billion of the R10.5 billion required from the government for the fulfilment of the rescue business plan. This amount covers payments to employees, payments to post-commencement creditors and unflown ticket liabilities.

In total, 3 246 employees at the airline have signed voluntary severance packages agreements. These were concluded in August last year, one month after creditors approved the airline’s business rescue plan. The payments however exclude Saapa members.

Saapa has demanded that SAA pilots who formed part of the the section 189(3) notice dated 18 July 2020 be retrenched by no later than April 15, 2021. The union has also demanded that the airline pay the pilots their remuneration upon retrenchments.

“Saapa will avail itself for a meeting with the BRPs or the company to avert the strike. But if all else fails, we remain unified and ready to meet any challenges,” Back said.