South Africa opens new battle with unions over airline salaries

South Africa started a fresh battle with labor groups in its effort to revive the bankrupt state airline, offering three months of wages to employees who haven’t been paid since March. The government’s Department of Public Enterprises and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa agreed to discuss the matter later on Tuesday, according to a spokeswoman for the labor group. Numsa and the South African Cabin Crew Association, another union, had expected members to be paid in full, in line with the country’s legal framework for a business-rescue process. Numsa can’t yet say if it will accept or reject the three-month offer for South African Airways staff, spokeswoman Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said by text message. “We can only say that the DPE must not forget that workers have made major sacrifices,” she said. The new flareup represents another barrier to South Africa’s plan to get SAA to fly again, about a year after the loss-making carrier first went into bankruptcy protection. While administrators published a rescue plan in June, the state has struggled to source the required funding and a search for an outside investor has been inconclusive. The effort has been made significantly harder by the Covid-19 pandemic. SAA hasn’t flown a commercial flight since March, when its fleet was grounded to help contain the coronavirus.<br/>