THE South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) has expressed concerns and disappointment over the work done by the Business Rescue Practitioners (BRP) at South African Airways (SAA).
The union’s deputy General Secretary Anele Kiet said they want the BRP out of the state-owned airline in 7 days.
“At this time, we thought that everything would be normal at SAA, and workers would have gotten their salaries, and the airline would be fully operational based on what we agreed on,” said Kiet.
He said a memorandum of demands has been handed to the Department of Public Enterprises.
“To add insult to injury and salt in the wound, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has not been helpful in this situation, as it has delayed in releasing funds necessary for the reconstruction and development of the airline. With this said, the DPE seems to be playing the historical role of assisting the bourgeoisie to oppress the proletariat, and they seem to be playing this role very well in this instance,” said Kiet.
“The “mediating role” played by the DPE between labour and the BRPs, has advanced and safe-guarded private sector and/or private property interests of the latter.”
Kiet said failure by the department to respond on time will lead to the matter being escalated to the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“The assault against aviation workers is in this instance executed by the state in collaboration with bourgeois BRPs. These developments have exposed the concealed rate of exploitation in SAA’s labour process,” said Kiet.
“The proletariat located in the aviation sector in general, and SAA subsidiaries in particular, have lost their properties as a consequence of unprecedented bank repossessions which could have been avoided through state intervention. More fundamentally, this puts workers in a precarious position and contributes to the already dire socio-economic situation that many South African currently find themselves in.”
(SOURCE: INSIDE POLITICS)
