Bloomberg reports that according to a trade union leader, the government has asked workers at SA Airways (SAA) to accept three months’ pay rather than the eight months they are entitled to by labour law and the terms of a business rescue plan.  

The offer was made at the weekend and would not be accepted “on our watch,” Grant Back, chair of the SAA Pilots Association, said on Monday.  The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) paid R1.5bn to the administrators of the bankrupt national airline last week, but the money cannot be used because the administrators say the conditions imposed breach labour and companies regulation.  SAA, which was placed into business rescue in December 2019.  Its business rescue plan details a hierarchy of payments, including severance packages for dismissed workers.  Under the Companies Act, when a firm is placed into business rescue, advisers are the first to be paid, followed by secured creditors and employees for work during the business rescue period.  The DPE wants some of the money to be given to SAA subsidiaries, which were not part of the business rescue, Back stated.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Antony Sguazzin at BusinessLive

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