South African Airways' catering unit plans to cut 118 jobs: union

South African Airways’ catering arm plans to lay off 118 workers, the union representing them said, as the struggling airline implements a turnaround strategy to restore profitability. SAA, which has not generated a profit since 2011, survives on state guarantees and is regularly cited by credit ratings agencies as a drain on the government purse. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), which represents the workers, said it had received notice of the layoffs from the catering arm, called Air Chefs, but said it wanted to deal directly with SAA on the planned job cuts. “Air Chefs intends to retrench 118 workers out of a workforce of about 1,200 people,” said the union, one of South Africa’s largest. “We shall do all we can to defend workers and their jobs at Air Chefs,” the union said. “NUMSA demands that any discussion regarding retrenchments should take place within the SAA group which is the mother company. Our members demand that any restructuring must take place at a group level and should not be decentralised.”<br/>