SAA denies wage deadlock

Johannesburg - Wage negotiations between South African Airways (SAA) and four labour unions have certainly not deadlocked, the national airline said on Thursday.

SAA emphasised that it is committed to finding a speedy resolution to its current 2016 wage negotiations with labour unions.

The national carrier commenced wage negotiations on April 11 2016 with four labour unions - the National Transport Movement (NTM), the South African Cabin Crew Association (Sacca), the National Union of Metal Workers Association (Numsa) and the United Association of South Africa (UASA).

According to SAA, the first round of the negotiations ended on April 20 2016 for the participating parties to review the respective proposals. There were a series of subsequent meetings between the parties, with the last meeting held on May 6 2016.

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"None of the labour unions in the wage negotiations have to date formally declared a deadlock or lodged a dispute in accordance with the Labour Relations Act. No such decision has to date been communicated to SAA," the airline stated.

"The airline remains committed to negotiating in good faith with labour unions and undertakes to continue to work together with the unions to find a resolution which will constitute a reasonably meaningful response to the expectations of the employees whilst at the same time mindful to the need for the airline to remain operationally viable," said SAA.

It added that comments made at a staff meeting that the airline "has money" did not imply that the airline has now become profitable.

"Properly understood, the comments were limited to the extent to which the airline could maintain its operations without relying on government guarantees. Any other interpretation to the comments made was not intended and this communication seeks to clarify the airline’s position on the matter," said SAA.

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