Menzies Aviation Strike Continues

Menzies Aviation has presented a new wage offer to the National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa) in a bid to end the strike by its workers at airports across the country.

This comes after a dispute with Numsa over its hourly pay system which general secretary, Irvin Jim, said is unfair to the union's members, who risk losing income when they are off work due to sick leave or for personal reasons.

Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said on Tuesday that the strike had continued for a second day at the airports of OR Tambo International in Johannesburg, King Shaka International in Durban, Cape Town International, King Phalo in East London, and Chief Dawid Stuurman in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth).

However, she said the CCMA had now stepped into the fray.

They want us to participate in mediation, and Numsa has agreed to participate in that mediation. I will communicate the dates once I have them, in terms of when we're going to meet with the employer, ourselves and CCMA, Hlubi-Majola said.

Menzies Aviation, executive vice president, Middle East, Africa and Asia, Charles Wyley, said in a statement issued late on Tuesday that the company had presented a new offer to the union.

We can confirm we are in discussion with Numsa and a new offer is under review. We await feedback from the union and continue to be committed to seeking a resolution which is workable for both the business and our employees, Wyley said.

Our contingency planning will ensure our airline partners and passengers are not disrupted. Currently all our customer flights are operating as per their published schedules with minimal impact.

International flights and airfreight by Qatar, Qantas and Cathay Pacific have been named as airlines that could suffer because of Numsa's labour action.

On the domestic front, a strike by the staff of Menzies Aviation could particularly impact FlySafair.