Nationwide Airlines intends retrenching 27 support staff based at Lanseria Airport, the trade union Solidarity said on Thursday.
”Nineteen workers out of the 27 on the list have already been notified that their employment is to be terminated by January 14 2008,” said Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans.
”The company is still endeavouring to save the jobs of the remaining eight employees,” he said, adding that skills levels and the last-in, first-out principle had been applied.
The South African Civil Aviation Authority effectively grounded Nationwide on November 30 when it suspended its approval of the airline’s aircraft maintenance organisation and the certificates of airworthiness of its fleet of aircraft.
The airline was gradually resuming its operations this week.
It could not immediately comment on the retrenchments.
Solidarity said it was handed the list of retrenchments on Thursday, following a morning meeting at which it expressed its fears about the job security of the airline’s employees.
The 27 were support staff and not maintenance staff, the union said.
”We are confident that Nationwide Maintenance’s 96 employees can be accommodated by Safair, which currently services Nationwide’s aircraft,” said Kleynhans. ”Nationwide has therefore indicated that it is not at present considering retrenchments at Nationwide Maintenance. This comes as a great relief to us.”
Reiterating Solidarity’s support for Nationwide, Kleynhans said the union remains hopeful that all the airline’s flights will be resumed soon and that public support for the airline will render any more retrenchments unnecessary. — Sapa