South African Airways Union Strikes End

Credit: WeeTracker

South African Airways reached a deal with the two unions striking against it on Friday.

The South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) and National Union of Metalworkers South Africa (NUMSA) are back to work. South African Airways, which already relies heavily on government subsidies to keep afloat, has seen hundreds of flights cancelled over the last week. Members of SACCA and NUMSA walked out to strike starting on November 15th. According to SAA, both unions had previously agreed to a 5.9% retroactive wage hike. The retroactive wage hike would have spanned from April of 2019 and was planned to be paid next February should there not be any funding shortages. SAA also made a similar deal with the National Transport Movement, although that union did not participate in these strikes.

For their parts, both of the striking unions announced they would soon release a statement, which they did. The statement read “We are therefore pleased to announce that we are calling off all strike action at SAA and SAAT (South African Airways Technical) with immediate effect, due to the fact that we have settled on a wage offer.”

SAA has been struggling financially. Over the past three years, the South African government has paid the airline over $1.4 billion in bailouts. The airline alluded to the fact that it may cut 20% of its current jobs earlier this month.

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