Johannesburg - Low-cost airline Mango had been issued with a strike notice by Solidarity after wage talks reached a deadlock, the trade union said on Friday.
“Solidarity will now meet with its members to decide on a way forward. The trade union wants to try to avoid a strike,” spokesman Marius Croucamp said. The dispute arose from a 2011 agreement in which Mango gave a written undertaking to bring its pilots’ pay in line with that of other low-cost carriers by this year.
The strike notice was issued on Wednesday. Mango confirmed on Friday that it had received Solidarity’s notice.
“The union proffers that its application follows a deadlock in negotiations, despite Mango fully complying with the existing salary agreements with the pilot body, reached in 2011 and 2012,” airline spokesman Hein Kaizer said.
This was among other agreements to bring Mango’s pilot salaries in line with those of other domestic low-cost carriers over a three-year period, by the end of the year.
“Mango salaries are already comparable to those of carriers such as SA Airlink, SA Express and pending new low-cost carrier entrants into the South African market,” Kaizer said.
Croucamp said Mango and the union had signed a three-year wage agreement in 2012 giving effect to an agreement made in 2011.
“The 2012 agreement included guaranteed minimum increases for 2012, 2013 and 2014. A further clause stated that, should the other airlines give their pilots increases during the three-year period, the parties would review Mango’s agreed upon increases in order to maintain parity.”
He said that Solidarity had approached Mango last year in good faith for such a review. However, he said, the airline had violated the spirit of the agreement by referring the review clause to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
Mango sought to get the review clause rescinded based on a technicality, which undermined labour stability at the airline, Croucamp said.
“Mango’s sudden swing is in gross contempt of the parity ideal of the 2011 agreement.”
The CCMA rescinded the review clause, although it also recommended that the airline and Solidarity should still enter into negotiations on how to achieve parity among low-cost airlines.
“Solidarity has attempted to enter into such negotiations with Mango but without success,” Croucamp said.
“The increase Mango is offering at the moment would mean that its pilots would still earn approximately 16 percent less than their peers at the other low-cost airlines,” Croucamp said. - Sapa