At present, it looks like the trade unions are the tail indiscriminately wagging the government head, seemingly oblivious to the damage that is done to the South African economy in the process or the fact that the survival of public enterprises, like the SAA, is being seriously jeopardised.
Trade unions and parties like the ANC and the EFF are only concerned about their own interests and ideologies and do not really care about the future of employees.
The settlement reached by the SAA of an increase of 5,9% and the fact that it will be backdated to April this year could cause the bankrupt enterprise to finally buckle and leave approximately 11 000 people without jobs. The trade unions are apparently so focused on short-term gain that they completely overlooked this.
In this context, a salary without an immediate increase is obviously still better than the prospect of no job and, thus, no salary.
Trade unions are preventing the government from doing what is needed to save the economy. A shining example is the appointment of a competent chief executive officer, namely Phakamane Hadebe, at Eskom.
He immediately and accurately identified the unsustainable and exorbitant wage bill of the electricity supplier as one of the enterprise's biggest problems and he proposed a moratorium on salary increases. NUM opposed it and ultimately, Hadebe resigned. The same thing is happening to Vuyani Jarana at the SAA.
The government is going to have to stand up to its alliance partners. It cannot go on like this any longer.
The SAA cannot afford the increase and, thus, it is not sustainable. The airline cannot even pay its salaries this month. How it is going to be able to afford paying an increase as well as retroactive pay is anyone’s guess.
These unreasonable demands made by trade unions and the financial bail outs that inevitably follow are costing taxpayers millions of rand. That money should actually be used for infrastructure and service delivery to the poor, not to finance incompetence and unreasonable demands.
The government knows all too well that the fiscus cannot afford paying exorbitant salaries and more bail outs and yet it seems to be powerless against the trade unions. The FF Plus says enough is enough and a line must be drawn to keep the trade unions from dragging the entire country over the edge of ruin with them.
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