Dear Colleagues,
IFALPA has been informed by AVPA-SA that despite SAAPA’s best efforts, South African Airways management is still unwilling to engage in meaningful negotiations.
During the CCMA hearing for conciliation, the Commissioner recognized that a deadlock was inevitable and after a full day of proceedings, a deadlock was declared and before issuing a certificate of non-resolution to both parties SAAPA had to agree on and sign the picketing rules. The certificate of non-resolution provides either party the ability to proceed with protected industrial action. SAAPA pilots experienced several difficulties during this process: such as slow responses and lack of engagement of management, legal delays, etc. To date, they only had two and a half days allocated for direct negotiations, which suggests there is no will to resolve matters fairly and collaboratively.
Pilots received pay cuts of up to 50%. It now seems entirely reasonable to receive appropriate recognition for those sacrifices. On 25 November, a strike ballot was carried and an overwhelming 92% of the membership is in favor of taking industrial action.
On behalf of SAAPA pilots, AVPA-SA requests the Mutual Assistance outlined below, as per the IFALPA Industrial Manual, starting on 28 November 2024 and until further notice.
- Requests for IFALPA Submissions and Representation (Para. 2.5.7)
AVPA-SA requests that the Letters of support for SAAPA pilots be sent to the attention of Captain Graham Botes, Chairman [email protected] and cc Carl Bollweg, IFALPA Director [email protected] and [email protected]
AVPA-SA will keep IFALPA and its Member Associations informed of any further developments.