Hundreds of aircraft maintenance technicians with South Africa’s national airline downed tools on Monday in the latest strike to hit the country, a union official said.
“Our members are striking for a double-digit salary increase of 12 percent,” Vincent Masoga, spokesman for the South African Transport and Allied Union (SATAWU) told AFP.
“There are pickets going on near the airport right now,” said Masoga.
There was no immediate comment from SAA.
Around 1,300 technicians who repair and service aircrafts at the South African Airways (SAA) and are also used by other domestic and international carriers, including British Airways and Qantas, were involved in the strike.
The Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) which handles some 650 departing flights, said it was taking measures to minimise any disruptions.
ACSA is “monitoring the situation closely across its network of nine airports and … will utilise its resources to provide support to the airlines in order to minimise any potential operational disruptions,” it said in a statement.
The action is just one of the latest in a wave work of stoppages in strike-prone South Africa.
Some 30,000 auto workers have been on strike for a week, crippling domestic production.
Construction industry employees are expected to down tools from this week.
They are likely to be followed by workers in the gold mining and textile sectors.
Such strikes are common at this time of the year in South Africa, when annual wage negotiations take place.
S.Africa's airline workers strike for higher pay
