Airport baggage handlers on strike since December 18 said on Thursday they are prepared to settle for a pay increase of 6% to 7,5%, but will not accept worsened conditions of employment.
South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) general secretary Randall Howard said the most recent offer by the employer, Equity Aviation Services, ”does not deal with compensation for increased hours of work … Any settlement on the basis of downward variation without compensation would effectively be a reverse of our members’ historical gains, and therefore is rejected.”
Equity Aviation has proposed an increase in the number of hours worked per week from 40 to 45. Satawu has conceded 41 hours.
Satawu was also concerned that much of the increase offered by Equity Aviation — in a complicated two-year proposal — was in the form of non-pensionable allowances and productivity bonuses.
Satawu also wants ”over 150” workers dismissed during the strike to be reinstated.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions said it has arranged a protest march to the Department of Public Enterprises in Pretoria on Friday morning in support of Satawu.
Equity Aviation is a privatised company, 51% of which is held by black economic empowerment shareholders.
An Equity Aviation spokesperson was not immediately available for comment. — Sapa