With the airline, as with Eskom before it, we seem to be doing the opposite of what is required
The SAA strike, and associated instability and financial stress that comes along with it, seems to be over. But only for now and only the brave would bet their house on the deal enduring.
A former banker and official at the National Treasury, he immediately recognised that the finances of the overstaffed company weren’t sustainable and proposed a wage freeze. Predictably, the unions opposed this, strike action and reports of sabotage followed. The government intervened to get the parties back to the negotiating table, and a settlement was eventually reached, with workers winning pay increases of about 7% over three years.
What should concern observers about SAA’s pay deal, which will see workers getting a 5.9% increase that will be paid in February 2020 and backdated to April 1 2019, is that it is seemingly premised on the government giving the airline a R2bn bailout for working capital to fund its daily operations. Finance minister Tito Mboweni, who has suggested that closing down SAA would be the best option, has made it clear that the government, which in its latest medium-term budget policy statement agreed to settle a R9bn debt for the airline, has little appetite to keep throwing money at it.
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