As many as 10,000 employees of the South African Airways are in danger of losing their jobs if the troubled airline’s caretakers’ plan to dismiss them succeeds amid the current nationwide coronavirus lockdown, APA learnt on Sunday.
The caretakers, known as Business Rescue Practitioners, have tabled a proposal to terminate the entire workforce of the airline but after selling the national flag carrier’s assets first, they said.
According to the caretakers, unions as well as non-unionised employees have till 24 April to accept the agreement to let them go.
The rescue practitioners, however, did not say what their next action would be if the workers refused to accept the deal which, from past experience of trying to dismiss them, was the most likely scenario.
The move to dismiss an entire workforce and break up the SAA comes just days after the government denied the airline of an additional US$700 million of bailout funds.
The caretakers’ thinking was that the cash-strapped airline could not be turned around without the injection of the much needed cash which has now been denied to it.
The move to dismiss the workers also called for the SAA’s assets to be sold first to see if the value of the assets were enough to cover the workers’ financial packages.
Reacting to this development, the Cabinet has directed Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to prepare an updated report on the airline after he denied the SAA the multimillion-dollar bailout funds.
While the SAA is no longer carrying passengers, it is continuing to operate as a cargo carrier in and out of South Africa carrying essential cargo, the airline said.
NM/jn/APA