Johannesburg - The business rescue practitioners of the embattled South African Airways have issued retrenchment proposals to more than 4 700 staff members.
This was confirmed on Saturday by Louise Brugnan, the spokesperson for the struggling airline’s business rescue practitioners. She stressed that the letters were proposals and there had yet to be a signed agreement.
The business rescue practitioners said the letters were issued on Friday night and workers had until April 24 to make a decision.
“We are trying to lay off everyone,” said Brugnan in a telephonic interview.
“The government has already said they will no longer support the business rescue process, so we are looking for the best outcome for the staff through this process, we are trying to get the best outcome for them,” she said.
Brugnan said five unions were present when the letters were issued on Friday, but the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and the SAA Pilots’ Association (Saapa) were not represented.
Brugnan said they aimed to sell SAA assets to fund the proposed retrenchment process.
She said the offer only affected SAA employees
Issued the proposals - its a proposal for them to think about and consider - issued to them last night. The SAA local staff 4708.
Foreign employed SAA staff were not part of the proposed severance packages, Brugnan said.
Meanwhile, Brugnan said they were expecting Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to table a report regarding the airline on Monday.
She also said SAA staff were forced to take leave during the lockdown and would be paid. She said it was possible some employees would not be paid full salaries because of insufficient leave days.
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