While a planned strike by Airlink cabin crew has been called off after a new remuneration agreement was reached over the weekend, Mango in turn was not so lucky as its pilots went on strike this morning as wage discussions reached a deadlock.
According to trade union, Solidarity, its members which include flight captains and first officers, have been left with no other choice but to strike after wage negotiations with Mango fell flat.
Solidarity members, represents roughly 95% of the pilots at the airline, and the strike came into effect from 05:00 on Monday morning.
This comes after the trade union met with Mango’s management on Sunday to reach a possible settlement in salary negotiations.
“It once again would appear as if Mango’s management is not committed to accommodate its qualified employees as far as salary increases, which are below market value, are concerned,” said Reyneke.
He said management showed no interest whatsoever to negotiate with its employees, confirming that it would not revisit its initial offer of 6%. He added that the trade union was prepared to adjust its mandate in a bid to let negotiations succeed.
Reyneke claimed that management was also initially not inclined to meet with Solidarity despite it having given management four days’ notice of the intended strike – a period that is longer than the required notice period.
“Despite the fact that Solidarity has been prepared to actively participate in the negotiating process, all along it took the efforts of a senior captain to persuade management to meet with the trade union at all,” he explained.
The airline on Friday said that it would issue a statement today should the strike go ahead.
So far the following flights have been affected.
JE534 from PE to Johannesburg departing at 8:25am has been cancelled.
The 6am flight from Durban to Lanseria has been delayed to 8:35am.
The JE 144 8:55am Cape Town to Johannesburg flight is delayed and scheduled to depart at 10:40am.
The 9:30am flight from Cape Town to Lanseria has been delayed to 11:30
Afternoon flights on the Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Durban routes have been cancelled.