SALARY NEGOTIATIONS IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE

The Cosatu unions and the Independent Labour Caucus (ILC), representing 14 unions and approximately 1.3 million employees of the State in the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC), are extremely disappointed that the formal disputes that were declared on 9 June 2010, and the ensuing conciliation process did not bear the fruit that Labour hoped for. The Public Sector unions received a certificate from the conciliator after the parties failed to reach conciliation on the disputes with the State as employer. It is now evident that the Employer entered the collective negotiations with an extremely narrow mandate. Based on information gleaned during the conciliation the conciliator came to the conclusion that further interaction by and between Labour and the Employer would serve no purpose and issued a certificate that states that the dispute remains unresolved and that parties could now exercise their rights in terms of the Labour relations Act.
 
This development comes after the State as employer refused to improve on its offer of a 6,5% increase across the board for Public Servants and hot on the heels of the threatened Escom strike. The unions are demanding an 8,6% increase for their members. Other issues relating to service benefits, such as increasing medical subsidies and the housing allowance from R500 per month to R1 000 per month, were also raised.

Labour had high expectations that the employer would take unions’ demands seriously and significantly improve on its offer. The Employer is settling on substantial increases in other sectors of government. The contradiction is unacceptable. The most recent collective negotiating settlement in the labour market, with specific reference to local authorities, state departments that fall outside the ambit of the PSCBC and parastatals, range from 8% to 13%.

It is a fact that despite the seemingly lower-projected inflation rate, electricity and municipal service hikes are a reality. Steep increases in the petrol price will also hit consumers hard this year. The State as employer contends that unions’ demands are unreasonable, but the average public servant in lower and middle echelons cannot even afford to buy a decent home. By not giving proper attention to the housing allowance, which is a meagre R500 per month, and by offering an insignificant real increase, the State as employer is contributing to poverty as the Public Service is the single largest workplace in our country.

The plight of our members is desperate and we are left with no other options but to also consider the most severe option left to us, which is strike action. Unions are balloting their membership in this regard. Other forms of industrial action, e.g. picketing, media campaigns, etc are not excluded. We are united as Labour in this and ALL the admitted unions are committed to convince the State to improve on its offer. We will also consider external mediation as a parallel process.

The Unions have indicated at the time of declaring a dispute that they were available 24 hours 7 days in order to resolve the dispute. The employer can ill afford not to meet labour’s demands of 8.6% for salary increase, R1000.00 housing allowance and the equalisation for medical aid. The demands by Labour represent a compromise given the current settlement in the labour market.

Should we, however, not be able to convince the Employer to significantly improve on its wage offer and address the housing allowance, we cannot see that we will be able to prevent our members from embarking on strike action. Labour, however, remains optimistic that parties will be able to resolve the matter. Hopefully the Employer will adopt a similar approach.

Failure to find an amicable solution will have serious consequences for the public service. This can be avoided. Labour has consistently compromised in order to meet the employer half way but there was no commitment from the side of employer.

Issued by Secretariat