South African unions reject SAA rescue plan over job cuts

Two trade unions in South Africa on Friday rejected job cuts proposed to rescue South African Airways (SAA).

The unions – the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) and the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) – described the severance packages as too small and job cuts as too wide-ranging.

“These workers cannot be sacrificial lambs and we cannot allow for a situation where they must pay for this crisis,” the two unions said in a statement.

“We reject with contempt the announcement that only 1,000 employees will be retained … as it is tantamount to unleashing a job loss bloodbath,” they said.

The unions said they would seek redress through the labour courts.

In December 2019, South African Airways went into a form of bankruptcy protection. Unions had been in discussions with them and had previously accepted that some job cuts would be necessary.

The current plan, which would involve laying off about 90% of staff, leaving just 1,000 jobs, will cost at least 10 billion rand (US$573.9 million).

This sum is on top of the 20 billion rand that has been spent just keeping the airline afloat over the past three years.

NUMSA is one of the biggest unions in South Africa, a country in which trade unions wield considerable political power.

SAA has failed to turn a profit since 2011 owing to an expansion into competitive, loss-making global routes and a fleet of excessively fuel-hungry planes.

The airline is running low on cash after the coronavirus pandemic forced it to halt all commercial passenger flights and the government told the administrators it would not provide further funding.

In May 2020, South Africa’s Labour Court ordered a halt to layoffs at the ailing airline, siding with trade unions which had argued that the airline’s administrators had acted unfairly.