The SAA Pilots' Association (Saapa) wants to know why – unlike other employees at the state-owned airline – their 13th cheques for 2019 have not yet been paid from the R1.5 billion in funding the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) made available to the rescue practitioners in December.
Saapa is adamant that the 2019 13th cheques due to its members are payable regardless of the union having been placed in lockout.
Members of Saapa have been locked out by the rescue practitioners since 18 December 2020. A lockout is a mechanism an employer may apply and is the opposite of a strike. The rescue practitioners want Saapa to agree to cancel their current regulating agreement and accept new terms of employment. A lockout means an employer is not obliged to pay salaries from the date of the lockout.
