Cabin crew and other workers at South African Airways (SAA) will go on strike on Friday over the struggling state airline’s plan to cut more than 900 jobs.
“We are left with no choice but to resort to this drastic action by withdrawing our labour and going on strike,” Zazi Nsibanyoni-Anyiam, president of the South African Cabin Crew Association, told a joint press briefing with the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA).
The strike would continue indefinitely, the unions said.
Deon Fredericks, interim chief financial officer (CFO) of SAA, told a media briefing on Tuesday that the strike will endanger the existence of SAA and could destroy every job at the state-owned airline.
Fredericks says labor currently represents 24% of SAA’s total cost.
