Moneyweb reports that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has accused Comair of colluding with another union, Solidarity, to circumvent the airline’s ongoing retrenchment process.
It wants the retrenchment notices served to employees in October to be scrapped and new notices to be issued in line with the requirements of the Labour Relations Act. Should its application be granted, it could put a spanner in the works in the implementation of the airline’s business rescue plan, which requires that a collective agreement between the airline and unions be adopted to allow for the retrenchment of 400 employees. Comair, which operates Kulula.com and British Airways locally, had its rescue plan adopted by creditors in September and foresees that the airline will resume operations in December. Numsa argued at the Labour Court on Wednesday that prior to the adoption of the rescue plan, Comair management coerced some Numsa members into resigning from the union and joining Solidarity in a bid to ensure that the latter became the majority union at the airline. But, Solidarity’s Derek Mans denied the claim and said the collective agreements were signed “in the best interests of [their] members”. Advocate Andrew Redding for Solidarity told the court that as the minority union at Comair, Numsa would have to “suck it up” and be bound by the decisions taken by the majority union. “Comair is on its knees and … the majority of the employees have agreed to give up their rights and have acknowledged that there must be a reorganisation of the business so that it has 400 less jobs,” Redding told the court. Judgment in the matter was reserved.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thando Maeko at Moneyweb
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