South African Airways taken to court over planned job cuts

Two workers’ unions have filed a court case to prevent planned job cuts at state-owned airline South African Airways (SAA). 

The South African Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) submitted the joint suit to a labour court in Johannesburg on Monday.

The unions want to postpone the job cuts until SAA complies with the sections of the law that provide a 60-day consultation period before any workers are dismissed. 

The metalworkers’ union also wants the airline to honour an agreement made last year, which stipulated that workers facing redundancy would continue to receive three quarters of their monthly salary for half a year. 

Numsa representative Phakmile Hlubi-Majola told reporters that the case will be heard on Thursday.

SAA went into bankruptcy protection in December last year, having not turned a profit since 2011. In February the airline announced that it was suspending some international routes and almost all domestic services in order to cut costs. 

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