/ 19 August 1998

Airport workers are ‘determined to strike’

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 3.30pm.

THE National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union on Wednesday warned that it will entail “quite a lot of work” for it to prevent “infuriated” airport workers from striking later in the week in response to Tuesday’s deadlock in wage negotiations with the Airports Company of South Africa.

Nehawu and the Transport and General Workers’ Union — representing some 600 of ACSA’s 1500 employees — are planning industrial action to protest a “secret payroll” to ACSA managers as well as the company’s failure to resolve wage negotiations.

Nehawu spokesman Allistair Charles said on Wednesday that workers are determined to embark on some type of industrial action by Friday as they are “extremely infuriated” with the progress of negotiations. “To be frank, we will have to do quite a lot of work to prevent a strike,” Charles said.

He said the union is currently waiting to hear from its members at the country’s nine airports to see what industrial action they intend taking.