Aviation industry services should be declared “essential”
19 November 2019
I have written to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA)’s Essential Services Committee, asking for certain aviation industry services to be declared “essential”. Employees engaged in essential services are prohibited from exercising their constitutional right to strike.
Section 213 of the Labour Relations Act, 1995, defines an "essential service" as one which, if interrupted, would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or any part of the population.
The DA’s call follows reckless statements at the weekend by the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA), whose members have embarked on strike action against South African Airways (SAA).
The trade union’s spokesperson, PhakamileHlubi-Majola, warned passengers not to fly on SAA, threatening them that their safety could not be guaranteed and that they were “putting their lives at risk”. She commented that “learners in the technical environment and other staff are being used to fly aircraft without having the requisite experience”.