In what Numsa has termed as victory for workers, the country’s largest trade union announced on Friday that it had received correspondence from flight operator Comair that it was formally withdrawing a notice to reduce worker benefits and conditions of employment which affected 1,300 employees.
The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), with a membership of over 400,000, said it objected to the Section 189A notice dealing with retrenchments, served on the union on March 1 2022, because Comair employees had already made “huge sacrifices” in helping to turn the company around.
“[Employees] have endured more than a year on reduced salaries — their salaries were cut by at least a 30%, and all benefits have been slashed,” Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said. “This is why we welcome news that Comair has decided to withdraw the notice.”
Comair seeks alternative cost-saving solutions
In a letter to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), Comair employee relations practitioner Barnett Marillier stated that “[a]fter much deliberation on the issue of operational restructure and with due consideration of legal advice obtained, while we still need to restructure the conditions of employment that places the organisation at risk, we will seek to explore other avenues of achieving the same saving, which may include the collective bargaining process.
“We therefore withdraw the section 189A application … and will no longer continue to consult on this issue in this forum.”
The airline industry, which contributes about R180bn to SA’s economy, was among sectors that were heavily affected by Covid-19 as national and international borders were closed and interprovincial travel prohibited during the hard lockdown.
Comair, which operates domestic flights by British Airways (BA) and Kulula, was grounded for five days in March 2022 by the SA Civil Aviation Authority (Sacaa) after safety concerns including an engine and landing gear failure on some of its aircraft.
The suspension was lifted after Sacaa conducted an audit of Comair’s compliance with applicable civil aviation regulations.
In a statement on Friday, Jim said in the Section 189A notice, Comair had indicated that they wanted to cut salaries by 15% and reduce medical aid benefit.
“Workers were told that any employee who refuses to take a salary cut will face termination or dismissal. Numsa argued that their rationale for the notice was not in line with the provisions of section 189 (1) of the LRA [Labour Relations Act], but rather, if they wanted to make changes to benefits and conditions, that fell under the collective bargaining process,” Jim said.
“The [CCMA] commissioner agreed with us and suggested that they withdraw because Section 189 is for job cuts, not changes to conditions. The withdrawal of Section 189 is a victory for workers who fought hard for this demand to be realised.”
Jim said Numsa would now ready itself for wage talks “with the employer which are coming up soon”. Numsa national spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said the union was not in a position to share what its demands would be in the sector yet.
Hlubi-Majola said Numsa was still waiting for dates for wage talks. "We will update and communicate as soon as the dates are finalised," she said.
From April 11 2022, Numsa held a three-day national bargaining conference aimed at preparing and consolidating wage demands in economic sectors including the automotive and aviation industries.
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