Cape Town — The National Union of Metalworkers South Africa (NUMSA) has continued to strike over payment disputes, but airports have experienced minimal delays to flights so far.
According to NUMSA, the workers started striking at Menzies Aviation on Monday 15 July at 4am. Workers were upset with management, who refused to convert workers from Permanent Hourly Pay (PHP) to Permanent Monthly Pay (PMP).
NUMSA said it has been negotiating for workers to switch to monthly pay so that there are no ramifications should they miss work. They proposed working a minimum of 195 hours a week, and Menzies has suggested 165, but 195 at OR Tambo, which NUMSA rejected as OR Tambo workers would receive more benefits than those working at other airports.
“We want to warn the bosses at Menzies Aviation that a strike is a constitutional right and they have no right to try and bully them into stopping the strike,” NUMSA secretary general, Irvin Jim, said.
Menzies Aviation deals with baggage claims and checking in passengers before flights and its clients are FlySafair, Qantas and Cathay Pacific.
NUMSA members at Menzies Aviation to embark on strike action. Menzies offers ramp and ground handling services to @FlySafair, @Qantas and @cathaypacific
Details below 👇🏾@IrvinJimSA #ForTheLoveofTheWorkingClass
❤️🖤💛 pic.twitter.com/jUbqAdWHZA— NUMSA (@Numsa_Media) July 14, 2024
Airports in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Gqeberha, East London, and Durban have experienced some operational challenges but services remain largely unaffected bar some flight delays, The Citizen reported.
NUMSA spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, said the company had been ignoring the issue.
“We want the workers to be paid as if they are monthly employees, which means if you are on leave you are still paid, whereas if hourly workers are not at work they don’t get paid. That creates a situation where people come to work even when they are extremely ill and that is wrong,” she said.
“It’s surprising that an employer would even want workers to suggest that as a proposal because workers are all working the same hours and being exposed to the same conditions, but some would get paid per month and some per hour,” she said.
SAA and FlySafair said they had made plans to ensure services continued as usual and did not receive any operational disruptions.
Menzies workers go on strike in South Africa
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) has called for a strike at Menzies Aviation at all major airports in South Africa.
The strike started on Monday and is organized in response to Menzies Aviation’s refusal to pic.twitter.com/IupKgsKxU4— Observer Namibia (@ObserverNamibia) July 15, 2024
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
