Comair- Employment equity row brewing
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Could this be another way to get rid of competition for SAA? Interfere in private businesses that are self supporting, to their detriment until they can no longer function, then continue with the tax funded airline as if nothing has changed.
Naahhhh! They wouldn't, would they....
Naahhhh! They wouldn't, would they....
Now lets face facts, SAA has paid a dear price to become compliant to this legislation- if it were left alone to operate as it was doing before all of this nonsense I hardly think airlines like Comair would be doing half as well as they are today- I know because I worked for Comair in those days- SAA was tops in the eyes of the customer and Comair really battled offering fares that were 30% cheaper than SAA. In recent years their lack of transformation has been billed almost as a competitive advantage in the market.
Will implementing this legislation according to the law increase your costs? No- simply have a look at the mistakes made at SAA and plan accordingly, if done half heartedly- as is the current situation then its going to cost big bucks in fines as well as a dip in profitability as remedial measures (that will be legally enforced) are put in place in a hurry.
What everyone needs to realize is that there is a new team in town- you either play by their rules or you get out- you can still make money, they just don’t want a bunch of old white men keeping it all- they want to spread it around among folks who didn’t have the chance before.
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The post was tongue in cheek and I have no argument with your points. Unfortunately, the system is based more on race than merit and initiative (as it was in the past but two wrongs won't make a right). When we can see past the racial problem and take on someone because they do a bloody good job, we'll be on the road to success. Any manipulation of a private sector company by govt is merely a vote gathering excercise by the political filth and can only do harm both to the company and the candidates. The unfortunate fact is that with legislation like this in place, no black candidate will ever be deemed to have got there on their own merits and will always be viewed with suspicion as a result. This is doing the cause more harm than good IMO.
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Spot on SRT, as mentioned before I’ve been on the receiving end of this reverse racism and its no picnic! The good news is that the pendulum is swinging back- well as far as SAA is concerned, I’m sure going forward things will return to some state of normality- ie SAA will have to recruit pilots and that will get the turnover through the other airlines flowing again- what is going to screw things up even further ,though ,is these other companies trying to fight the government- that will just bring the spotlight down on the whole industry even further- that’s not going to help anyone- especially not themselves!!
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No such thing as reverse racism, boet. It's racism, pure and simple...
Lets hope the political filth can stop their childish point scoring and get it right before it's too late.
Lets hope the political filth can stop their childish point scoring and get it right before it's too late.
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As seen in today's Business Day- seems they feel window dressing should be rewarded- particularly interesting is the piece on the day to day running of the company…
This is one time slick PR is not going to wash
This is one time slick PR is not going to wash
COMAIR, the aviation company that operates kulula.com, yesterday added its name to the growing list of companies that are displeased with comments from the labour minister last week on employment equity.
More than 1290 companies were named, some apparently erroneously, for not having submitted their employment equity reports on time, but Comair was one of six companies named for poor progress on employment equity. The others are Kumba, Verimark, Medi-Clinic, Prism and Omnia.
Comair said yesterday that, excluding pilots, of its 1400 staff, 51% were black and 65% were women.
“We’re confused and we know others are too. Not just the six, but companies in general are not sure where the goal posts are any more,” said Gidon Novick, Comair joint CEO. “We have exceeded our employment equity targets.”
Kumba also railed against last week’s statements, saying progress on targets for historically disadvantaged South Africans in its management had increased from 28% in 2004 to 33%.
“This rate of progress indicates that Kumba is on track to meet the mining charter target in 2008 — well ahead of the 2009 deadline,” said Kumba.
Novick said yesterday Comair would engage the minister on the issue but felt that there had been a new focus on the boards of companies. “If so, we’d love to know that,” Novick said.
Jimmy Manyi, head of the Employment Equity Commission, said yesterday a director-general from the department would meet Comair and others and warned that companies should not jump to conclusions.
“I don’t know the specific issues on Comair,” said Manyi, “But when we assess a company it’s on a range of issues, not just representivity.”
Manyi said being consultative with staff, wage gaps, training, skills transfer, equitable pay for peer groups, the country’s demographics and more were taken into account. He said there was no sudden, new focus on board directors.
Comair has two black male nonexecutive directors and no women on the board. None of the six companies named last week has an executive director who is black or a woman. The day-to-day running of these companies rests in white, male hands.
“It is one area where we’ve got to do better,” said Novick. “We will be recruiting executives in the near future.
“But what do you do with a team that has been going for a long time and the churn is very low and it’s a specialised industry?”
Novick said Comair had invested 5% of its payroll in skills development, had actively recruited for black talent and had concluded an empowerment deal.
“We want recognition for that. The department set guidelines and we’ve met them.”
More than 1290 companies were named, some apparently erroneously, for not having submitted their employment equity reports on time, but Comair was one of six companies named for poor progress on employment equity. The others are Kumba, Verimark, Medi-Clinic, Prism and Omnia.
Comair said yesterday that, excluding pilots, of its 1400 staff, 51% were black and 65% were women.
“We’re confused and we know others are too. Not just the six, but companies in general are not sure where the goal posts are any more,” said Gidon Novick, Comair joint CEO. “We have exceeded our employment equity targets.”
Kumba also railed against last week’s statements, saying progress on targets for historically disadvantaged South Africans in its management had increased from 28% in 2004 to 33%.
“This rate of progress indicates that Kumba is on track to meet the mining charter target in 2008 — well ahead of the 2009 deadline,” said Kumba.
Novick said yesterday Comair would engage the minister on the issue but felt that there had been a new focus on the boards of companies. “If so, we’d love to know that,” Novick said.
Jimmy Manyi, head of the Employment Equity Commission, said yesterday a director-general from the department would meet Comair and others and warned that companies should not jump to conclusions.
“I don’t know the specific issues on Comair,” said Manyi, “But when we assess a company it’s on a range of issues, not just representivity.”
Manyi said being consultative with staff, wage gaps, training, skills transfer, equitable pay for peer groups, the country’s demographics and more were taken into account. He said there was no sudden, new focus on board directors.
Comair has two black male nonexecutive directors and no women on the board. None of the six companies named last week has an executive director who is black or a woman. The day-to-day running of these companies rests in white, male hands.
“It is one area where we’ve got to do better,” said Novick. “We will be recruiting executives in the near future.
“But what do you do with a team that has been going for a long time and the churn is very low and it’s a specialised industry?”
Novick said Comair had invested 5% of its payroll in skills development, had actively recruited for black talent and had concluded an empowerment deal.
“We want recognition for that. The department set guidelines and we’ve met them.”
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The point is how does the government expect the likes of Comair/Nationwide/etc to achieve full racial representation in the pilot ranks when SAA itself can only achieve 30 out of 800?
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As has been previously posted- its not about the pilots- its about management:
Comair has two black male nonexecutive directors and no women on the board. None of the six companies named last week has an executive director who is black or a woman. The day-to-day running of these companies rests in white, male hands.
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Joke:
A friend of mine (black) went on his 1st overseas trip to London. Whilst he was there he saw all the cleaners, construction workers, taxi drivers, toilet attendants were all white. He didn’t want to see what the black people were doing.
I think everyone has to ultimately face reality that all the races need to be represented at every job level. Obviously it will not be an easy process to get this going with SA’s history. Certain policy decisions are certainly necessary as the old guard will not simply open their doors particularly in the more technical fields where there’s very few openings.
A friend of mine (black) went on his 1st overseas trip to London. Whilst he was there he saw all the cleaners, construction workers, taxi drivers, toilet attendants were all white. He didn’t want to see what the black people were doing.
I think everyone has to ultimately face reality that all the races need to be represented at every job level. Obviously it will not be an easy process to get this going with SA’s history. Certain policy decisions are certainly necessary as the old guard will not simply open their doors particularly in the more technical fields where there’s very few openings.
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If you have a look at the companies mentioned it seems the government is far more interested in the mining sector than the airline business- government is fully conversant with the lack of black pilots in the market and seems prepared to cut some slack to the airlines in this regard- what it wants to see is that black people be promoted into decision making/responsible positions.
Now lets face facts, SAA has paid a dear price to become compliant to this legislation- if it were left alone to operate as it was doing before all of this nonsense I hardly think airlines like Comair would be doing half as well as they are today- I know because I worked for Comair in those days- SAA was tops in the eyes of the customer and Comair really battled offering fares that were 30% cheaper than SAA. In recent years their lack of transformation has been billed almost as a competitive advantage in the market.
Will implementing this legislation according to the law increase your costs? No- simply have a look at the mistakes made at SAA and plan accordingly, if done half heartedly- as is the current situation then its going to cost big bucks in fines as well as a dip in profitability as remedial measures (that will be legally enforced) are put in place in a hurry.
What everyone needs to realize is that there is a new team in town- you either play by their rules or you get out- you can still make money, they just don’t want a bunch of old white men keeping it all- they want to spread it around among folks who didn’t have the chance before.
Now lets face facts, SAA has paid a dear price to become compliant to this legislation- if it were left alone to operate as it was doing before all of this nonsense I hardly think airlines like Comair would be doing half as well as they are today- I know because I worked for Comair in those days- SAA was tops in the eyes of the customer and Comair really battled offering fares that were 30% cheaper than SAA. In recent years their lack of transformation has been billed almost as a competitive advantage in the market.
Will implementing this legislation according to the law increase your costs? No- simply have a look at the mistakes made at SAA and plan accordingly, if done half heartedly- as is the current situation then its going to cost big bucks in fines as well as a dip in profitability as remedial measures (that will be legally enforced) are put in place in a hurry.
What everyone needs to realize is that there is a new team in town- you either play by their rules or you get out- you can still make money, they just don’t want a bunch of old white men keeping it all- they want to spread it around among folks who didn’t have the chance before.
All the gov. wants, is it all, they don't give a rat's ass aboute the rest of us,open your eyes.
Why do you think crime is what it is to day, why everybody is leaving or want to leave.
Why after 12 years down the line do we still talk about under privelaged people.
How many people did SAA screw in the past and still doing it today.
SA is losing alot of qualified people on a daily basis because of your beloved goverment!
