NUMSA Planning Secondary Strike Across Aviation Industry After SAA Negotiations Collapse

Riyaz Patel

The National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) said Sunday it’s consulting with workers on a secondary strike across the industry after talks with the state-run carrier South African Airways (SAA) collapsed

“This secondary strike will have the impact of shutting down the entire aviation sector,” said NUMSA spokeswoman Phakamile Hlubi-Majola.

Consultations are underway with workers at the Civil Aviation Authority, Mango Airlines, SA Express, Airports Company South Africa and Comair, she said.

“If you have workers at the Civil Aviation Authority on strike, it means that none of the planes are going to fly. It’s not just SAA, it’s all planes,” said Hlubi-Majola.

In a joint statement, NUMSA and SACCA said the meeting produced no resolution in the ongoing impasse.

This past week, SAA said it would potentially have to cut 944 jobs as part of its restructuring process.

Unions are also demanding an increase of 8% across-the-board while