The SA Cabin Crew Association (Sacca), which is trying to regain recognition at SAA, has suspended plans to march to the airline’s head office at the OR Tambo International Airport on Friday.
The union has called for the immediate intervention of the minister of transport and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in cases of wasteful expenditure and corrupt practices it said were prevalent at the airline.
It is also demanding that the employees retrenched in the airline’s business rescue process be given priority when making new appointments as well as ending lease agreements with foreign airlines — such as the peak-season deal with Turkish Airline-owned SunExpress.
“We are also worried that SAA might consider selling London slots as well as SAA property to raise money to survive. Morale at the airline is very low due to the lack of protection from unions like ours,” said Sacca president Chris Shabangu.
In SAA’s business rescue process, which concluded in April 2021, its workforce was reduced from 4,500 employees to about 1,000.
As part of the process, the airline had to renegotiate and sign new agreements with all trade unions. According to SAA, Sacca failed in its application for recognition at the time, resulting in it being formally derecognised.
According to a statement issued by SAA on Thursday, the airline was still working with Sacca to allow it to meet the requirements of the Labour Relations Act for recognition at the airline again. SAA has since approached the labour court to rule on the matter.
SAA said it viewed the planned marches by Sacca as “an unnecessary distraction from the important work of rebuilding the national carrier post the business rescue process and the Covid-19 pandemic”.
The airline said it had taken the necessary precautions to prevent disruptions to its operations and to protect employees, suppliers and others working within the precinct.
“It is therefore the view of SAA that all parties must wait for the court process to take its course instead of venturing into extrajudicial processes that serve as an unnecessary distraction and deviation from the important work of rebuilding the airline,” said SAA.
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