Pilots threaten to strike next

Urgent call for transformation ALAN PEAT DESPITE THE end of the SAA ground crew and cabin staff strike, another threat of industrial action hangs in the air. The pilots could be next, with mumblings during the strike that they might join the others in downing tools. The transport industry’s main union, the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), also has an eye on the present pilot environment. They point to the fact that SAA currently has 800 pilots, an overwhelming majority of whom are white and male and an insignificant minority coming from other race groups, according to Satawu national media officer, Ronnie Mamba. He told FTW that the general secretary of the union, Randall Howard, had called for a speedy transformation of the pilot regime at SAA. Speaking during the signing ceremony for the 6% wage increase for the current year, Howard said the time had come when the national carrier had to look long and hard at what he termed the “elite boys’ club” of the aviation industry. At the same time, he called for more black pilots to be trained and blooded into the sector and argued that the current powerful position that pilots held was not in the best interests of the industry. He said they could easily hold the country to ransom. “We acknowledge their strategic role in the aviation industry, but we also maintain that there needs to be a more urgent process of transformation that will lead to more representation of all the country’s racial groups,” he said.