Mango pilots to strike as pay talks collapse

Cape Town - Solidarity members, which includes flight captains and first officers, have been left with no other choice but to strike from Monday after wage negotiations with Mango fell flat, the trade union said on Sunday.

Solidarity members, which represents 95% of the pilots at the low-cost Mango airline, will go on strike as from 05:00 on Monday morning, said deputy general secretary Deon Reyneke.

This comes after the trade union met with Mango’s management on Sunday to reach a possible settlement in salary negotiations.

“It once again would appear as if Mango’s management is not committed to accommodate its qualified employees as far as salary increases, which are below market value, are concerned," said Reyneke.

He said management showed no interest whatsoever to negotiate with its employees, confirming that it would not revisit its initial offer of 6%. He added that the trade union was prepared to adjust its mandate in a bid to let negotiations succeed.

Reyneke claimed that management was also initially not inclined to meet with Solidarity despite it having given management four days’ notice of the intended strike - a period that is longer than the required notice period.  

"Despite the fact that Solidarity has been prepared to actively participate in the negotiating process, all along it took the efforts of a senior captain to persuade management to meet with the trade union at all," he explained.

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