South African Airways workers to strike over mass layoff plans

"We are embarking on the mother of all strikes," Zazi Nsibanyoni-Mugambi, president of the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) told a news conference in Johannesburg. "We are grounding the airline on Friday," said Irvin Jim, general secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA). The unions are pressing for a three-year guarantee of job security and an eight percent across-the-board wage hike. Pilots - who are not taking part in the strike - have accepted a 5.9-percent increase, they said.