Claims by South African Airways (SA) that a 12 day old strike by the National Transport Movement (NTM) over lack of recognition has not affected its operations, have been hotly disputed by the union's deputy secretary general, Liver Mngomezulu.
The strike, which began on Friday 18 January, came about over the board at SAA's refusal to grant recognition to the union owing to it having insufficient membership numbers (required minimum of 30% quota). Since the onset of the strike, the NTM's membership has been climbing
with "about" 260 new membership forms having been verified by the
commissioner from the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and
Arbitration (CCMA).
"The strike is continuing while the verification is going on," Liver Mngomezulu, the deputy secretary-general of the NTM, said on Monday. He went on to reject SAA’s claims that the strike had not hurt the airline. "On Friday they were begging us to withdraw the strike because it is affecting their operations, and we said to them that ‘in the media you are saying something else".
Source [BizCommunity]
SAA, however, maintained that the stayaway was not affecting operations with spokesman Tlali Tlali saying that support for the strike was "fizzling out" with "about 20 people on strike."
"Management has never begged NTM to call off the strike…. If anything, we engaged with them with good intentions aimed at finding a common ground. That is hardly an act of begging," he said.
Source [BusinessDay]
SAA has remained adamant that it will not grant the NTM any form of recognition until all requisite criteria are met, which amongst others, involves proving their claim to an independent third party.
