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FlySafair plane in flight
A wage agreement has been reached between airline FlySafair and the SA Cabin Crew Association (SACCA). This brings to an end the almost two-week industrial action that saw the employer locking workers out.
FlySafair says the signed agreement is a 4-year wage increase of between 6 and 6,9% and a guaranteed bonus of 7,5%.
The workers had initially demanded 15%.
It’s been a marathon of engagements at FlySafair with the CCMA roped in to mediate wage talks under section 150 of the Labour Relations Act.
SACCA, the largest union for cabin crew members at the company, threatened to strike, accusing the employer of approaching wage negotiations in bad faith.
SACCA President Christopher Shabangu explains what had stalled the talks.
“There are quite a few benefits that we believe we can still negotiate and which we will, starting from next week with the Department of Labour. We call this one phase one, phase two would be looking at things like overtime, Sunday pay, lunch hour pay, maternity leave and payment during maintenance leaves, standby. So, there’s other things that are still going to be negotiated. What we were just hoping for is a different approach because to be honest, locking out workers who are willing to go to work didn’t make any sense to us.”
The union says it has since made concessions as they move to accept the tabled four- year wage agreement.
“For the first day, which is this year from July to next July, 6%. And then for the year after, it’s going to be 6,5% and then it’s going to go to 6,7% and then it’s going to go to 6,9% for the last year. That’s just on wages. And then again, they have daily allowance of 30 minutes, that’s going to be per sector. And they’re going to have 7,5% annual bonus, which is an introduction for the first time. They’re also going to have bonus, 15% on bonus that they are going to get then there are other things within the agreement.”
The airline initiated a lockout for workers, a move that dragged on for almost two weeks.
The airline’s Chief Marketing Officer Kirby Gordon says he’s hopeful the signed agreement will stabilise operations going into the festive season and the G20 leaders’ summit.
“We’re very pleased to confirm that we’ve reached an agreement with our cabin crew union, which now brings to an end the recent labour dispute. Operations have been fully stable throughout and we’re grateful for our teams who’ve kept things running so smoothly. We can now move forward with multi-agreements in place for both the pilots and the cabin attendants, knowing that our crew will be stable for the next four years. Our efforts now can shift to fully focus on our passengers and to prepare for the upcoming busy season.”
The work lockout has since been lifted with FlySafair cabin crew members back at work.
The remaining sticky issues have been referred to the Department of Labour, with the hope of a speedy resolution in the coming week.
