South African Airways and trade unions were to meet under the auspices of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) on Tuesday afternoon in an effort to resolve a strike, unions said.
”If the situation continues as at present, the conciliation meeting should start at approximately 2pm tomorrow [Tuesday] afternoon,” said United Association of SA (Uasa) spokesperson Gerhard Ueckermann.
The parties agreed on Monday to conciliation as Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana urged the parties to accept dispute resolution to the strike, saying a speedy resolution to the conflict was in the public interest.
SAA refused the union’s request on Monday that the cake be ”sliced differently”, sticking to its offer of a five percent increase and once-off payment of R1 600.
”We’re not asking for more money. We want the whole thing spread in a different way,” Uasa general manager Andre Venter said.
On Saturday SAA improved its five percent offer by applying it to medical and housing benefits. Unions were asking for an eight percent increase.
The strike has led to the cancellation of international and regional SAA flights and an uncertain domestic flight schedule.
Ueckermann said there was a possibility that SAA technical staff could join the strike from Thursday.
The strike could go on until then, due to management’s stubbornness, Venter said.
”We never thought that we would get a management with the approach that they’ve got. At the moment there’s such a lot of time, money and energy that’s being wasted.”
SAA could not be reached for comment. – Sapa