The strike at major airports in South Africa will continue until the airports baggage handling company meets workers’ demands, the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) declared on Friday.
The union’s deputy president, June Dube, said when he presented a memorandum at the Equity Aviation Services’ headquarters in Johannesburg, that he hoped the baggage handling company would meet their demands soon.
He said the union would formally request Membathisi Mdladlana, the Labour Minister, to intervene.
More than 400 workers marched to the company’s Bedfordview offices to hand a memorandum to the chief executive, Trevor Hyman, demanding improvement of working conditions.
The company’s financial director, Barlyne Moodley, met the union members on Hyman’s behalf.
The union accused the company’s management of ”selectively dismissing” its members and demanded it adhere to a court order and reinstate them.
The memorandum also said Equity Aviation should not increase working hours and ”other downward variations of conditions and to wait for proper timing should they want to engage”.
Satawu policy researcher, Jane Barrett, said she was surprised the shareholders had not intervened.
”Not only is this going to hit their pockets in fines but the company already has difficulty in handling the cargo,” she said.
Moodley could not comment on the memorandum. ‒ Sapa