Breakthrough on OSD Negotiations
18 August 2009
OSD Update
The South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) welcomes the signing of the Draft Collective Agreement Number 4 of 2009 by the Department of Education.
This comes nearly a month after SADTU – the majority union in the bargaining chamber – indicated its readiness to sign.
Once again, SADTU has provided leadership by reviving the OSD negotiations which nearly collapsed last month following the Department`s intransigence in recognizing Collective Agreement Number 4 claiming it was awaiting response from its mandating structure.
After nearly a month of waiting, SADTU demanded an urgent sitting of the ELRC where the Department was asked to table its mandate.”Our commitment to resolving the impasse is a sign of SADTU`s commitment to Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign. We are committed to being in class, teaching, on time, prepared and ready. While some of our members were becoming impatient, we stuck to the negotiations to avert a situation which would force us to abandon our work, SADTU`s acting General Secretary Mugwena Maluleke said.
Although the agreement has been signed without the implementation date in place, teachers will be paid retrospectively.
The implementation date will be discussed further at the ELRC on September 4.
Collective Agreement Number 4 has the following gains for teachers:
- Recognition of experience where teachers, with effect from July 1, will be awarded one notch for every three years of continuous service;
- All teachers to receive a 3% pay progression back-dated to July 1st, and a 1% annual pay progression thereafter;
- Teachers with REQV 10 and 12 will be upgraded to REQV 13, equivalent to an entry level teacher`s salary;
- Senior and master teachers will receive a once-off cash bonus of 3% of the annual salary notch.
- The ELRC will appoint an actuary to research and investigate the appropriateness of the current salary structure applicable to institution and office-based educators. The actuary will further develop a proposed model which will be discussed and finalized in the ELRC. The work of the actuary must be complete by 30 November.
SADTU is the largest union in the public service and represents two thirds of teachers
Issued by: SADTU Secretariat
Nomusa Cembi, Media Officer 082 719 5152