She leaves her Kempton Park home at 3.30am to start a 4.20am shift at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport where she works as a customer service agent for Comair. She has to walk four kilometres to get to the taxi rank where she catches a taxi to the airport. The 30-year-old woman‚ who has asked not to be named for fear of victimisation‚ is among the United Association of SA (UASA) trade union members who are on strike at Comair‚ the British Airways franchisee that operates kulula.com.15-minute delays to Kulula and BA flights - #Comair strike updateOn Thursday‚ a group of about 100 members picketed outside Comair headquarters in Kempton Park. Workers on strike include Comair customer service agents‚ ticket sales agents‚ ramp controllers‚ airport control management and special service agents.The woman has been working for Comair for three years and earns a salary of R8‚500‚ from which she says she has to pay rent‚ transport and support her family in Cape Town. “When I get to work‚ we meet and do a debriefing‚ where we are told how the flights are and if there are any changes. From there‚ we open the counters and start checking in passengers.”Their first break is at 7am and they are allowed an hour to go for lunch. Even though her job is at the check-in counter‚ the woman says she is also required to work at the boarding gate and closing flights. “Those of us who work at check-in counters get paid far less than the others‚ yet we are required to do other people’s jobs.“We sometimes do supervisors’ jobs‚ who by the way earn R10‚000 more than us‚” said the woman. Her job also requires her to carry passengers' bags to weigh them in at the check-in counters. "We carry very heavy luggage. We have to endure being screamed at by late passengers. They sometimes manhandle us and demand that we allow them in even when they are late to board their flights."Our company does not protect us. They always side with the passengers. Even when we report cases to the police‚ nothing is done." As a Customer Service Agent‚ the woman is required to wear make-up and follow dress rules.“We are checked all the time if we have make-up on. The supervisors use white paper to check if we put on foundation. Our lipstick and eye shadow have to be on point. If you do not have make-up on‚ you are sent home.” The company also requires its staff to wear heels if they are wearing a skirt and they have to wear stockings all the time. “We have asked the company to at least buy us stockings because they get torn quickly. They do not even pay for our make-up‚ which is very expensive.” Female workers are not allowed to be bald. They have to provide a medical certificate if they have a condition that doesn’t not allow them to have hair or wear make-up‚ the woman says. The 4.20am shift ends at 12.30pm.They work six days a week. The afternoon shift starts at12.30 and ends at 10pm‚ after the last flight.On the late shift‚ the woman has to take a cab home. She says this does not even drop her in front of her gate. “If I want to be dropped at home‚ I have to pay more than the R30 I pay to be dropped in my area.”Her union is demanding salary increases of 10% per year for three years‚ an amount it said is based on inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) plus extra to allow for the extraordinary increase in cost of living as well as interest rate hikes. Comair is offering 7.5% per year for three years...