Crippling SAA strike may end soon

CAPE TOWN – A crippling pay strike by workers of South Africa’s national carrier spilled into a sixth day yesterday but a third-party mediator announced that “an in-principle agreement” had been drafted towards resolving the pay dispute.

“Significant progress has been made towards resolution of the dispute. An in-principle agreement has been drafted, the contents of which cannot be disclosed at this stage,” a statement from Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) said.The commission is mediating between the management and two unions who are demanding an eight per cent hike, as opposed to five percent offered to them.The draft agreement came after gruelling all-night talks.South African Airways spokesman Onkgopotse Tabane yesterday said no international or regional flights had taken off or landed.”International and regional flights remain cancelled while we are using contingency plans like using our competitors to take passengers to their destinations within the country,” he said.SAA’s ground and cabin crew belonging to United Association of South Africa and South African Transport and Allied Workers Union embarked on strike last Friday for wage hikes.The strike, one of the worst in the airline’s history, has played havoc with travel schedules across Africa where SAA is the dominant regional carrier.Over the weekend, the SAA management sweetened its offer of a five per cent annual wage increase with a five per cent increase on housing and medical benefits as well as a one-off 1 600-rand bonus.The CCMA statement said the concerned “parties will convene again today…after consulting with their principals.”SAA has declined to give a figure of how much the strike had cost but the United Association of South Africa, representing SAA’s ground and cabin crew, said the carrier had already lost about 200 million rand.Meanwhile, Reuters reports that shares in budget airline Comair jumped five per cent yesterday as demand for its flights surged during the strike.By 0752 GMT, Comair shares were up 5,3 per cent at 1,60 rand, outperforming the JSE all-share index, up 0,3 per cent.”Their call centres are flooded with people wanting to book their flights, but they have been always saying that they are flying at full capacity even before this week,” Ferdi Heyneke of Afrifocus Securities said.Comair, which runs a British Airways franchise in South Africa as well as no-frills airline Kulula.com, has benefited from a national strike by SAA staff over wage increases.The airline told Reuters on Monday it had carried over 3 000 SAA passengers and was not coping with the demand.-Nampa-AFP-ReutersAn in-principle agreement has been drafted, the contents of which cannot be disclosed at this stage,” a statement from Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) said.The commission is mediating between the management and two unions who are demanding an eight per cent hike, as opposed to five percent offered to them.The draft agreement came after gruelling all-night talks.South African Airways spokesman Onkgopotse Tabane yesterday said no international or regional flights had taken off or landed.”International and regional flights remain cancelled while we are using contingency plans like using our competitors to take passengers to their destinations within the country,” he said.SAA’s ground and cabin crew belonging to United Association of South Africa and South African Transport and Allied Workers Union embarked on strike last Friday for wage hikes.The strike, one of the worst in the airline’s history, has played havoc with travel schedules across Africa where SAA is the dominant regional carrier.Over the weekend, the SAA management sweetened its offer of a five per cent annual wage increase with a five per cent increase on housing and medical benefits as well as a one-off 1 600-rand bonus.The CCMA statement said the concerned “parties will convene again today…after consulting with their principals.”SAA has declined to give a figure of how much the strike had cost but the United Association of South Africa, representing SAA’s ground and cabin crew, said the carrier had already lost about 200 million rand.Meanwhile, Reuters reports that shares in budget airline Comair jumped five per cent yesterday as demand for its flights surged during the strike.By 0752 GMT, Comair shares were up 5,3 per cent at 1,60 rand, outperforming the JSE all-share index, up 0,3 per cent.”Their call centres are flooded with people wanting to book their flights, but they have been always saying that they are flying at full capacity even before this week,” Ferdi Heyneke of Afrifocus Securities said.Comair, which runs a British Airways franchise in South Africa as well as no-frills airline Kulula.com, has benefited from a national strike by SAA staff over wage increases.The airline told Reuters on Monday it had carried over 3 000 SAA passengers and was not coping with the demand.-Nampa-AFP-Reuters