Photo by: Duane Daws
Trade union Solidarity has called on South African Airways (SAA) and its technical division SAAT to “put its cards on the table” regarding the planned retrenchment of 730 employees.
Organised labour earlier requested, in terms of section 16 of the Labour Relations Act, that the airline needed to disclose information that would indicate why the retrenchments were justified.
The process facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has been ongoing since April this year. Although nine meetings have been facilitated by the CCMA, Solidarity believed that the company had not yet disclosed adequate information about the rationale for the retrenchments.
Meanwhile, it said that SAA had on Thursday indicated that the process would be extended by a month.
“SAA started to put pressure on us to discuss the selection criteria, severance packages and the retrenchment date. However, we believe that we have not yet received sufficient information from the company for substantial consultations on the reasons for the planned retrenchments.
“In addition, the arbiter reserved his decision in respect of organised labour’s request for information. We believe that the arbiter first has to deliver his ruling in terms of our section 16 application before selection criteria, severance packages and retrenchment dates can be discussed,” said Solidarity professional industry head Johan Botha.