In the midst of dealing with the economic fallout of its battle to curb the spread of Covid-19, the government now faces the wrath of 1.3-million public servants after it failed to honour a three-year wage agreement.
The first batch of public servants including nurses, pharmacists and lab technicians crucial to the battle with the virus, received their salaries on Wednesday without the increase agreed on in the last leg of the multi-year wage agreement signed in 2018. Unions said this proved that the state did not value their hard work.
Finance minister Tito Mboweni announced drastic cuts to the public sector wage bill during his budget address in February.
The government, however, did not bring unions on board before the cuts were pencilled into the budget, and some described the move as a declaration of war.
Since then, the government’s fiscal situation has worsened, with the Covid-19 outbreak and five-week lockdown set to plunge the economy into a deep recession. Moody’s Investors Service said on Wednesday that the budget deficit will probably reach a record 8.5% of GDP in 2020, while some economists have said it could exceed 10%. In the February budget, government forecast a shortfall of 6.8%.
Before President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to impose a lockdown from March 27, the government had hoped to renegotiate the third year of the wage agreement and projected a saving of R37.8bn in 2020.
In March, public service & administration minister Senzo Mchunu indicated that the state was committed to implementing wage increases on April 1 .
While the government did put out a revised offer of a 4.4% pay increase for some levels of workers, unions rejected this.
Zola Saphetha, the general secretary of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), SA’s largest public sector union, said on Wednesday they had resolved during a meeting last month to "wage a relentless war" against the government.
Nehawu, which is an affiliate of union federation Cosatu, represents nurses, doctors, pharmacists, cleaners, dispensary and reception clerks, community health workers, ambulance and morgue workers, community care workers and laboratory technicians, among others.
Union federation Fedusa has said it will mount a legal challenge if the government failed to increase the salaries in line with the agreement.
In the 2018 deal, signed in the Public Sector Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC), the government agreed to pay level 1-8 employees, comprising general workers and support staff, an increase of the projected consumer price index (CPI) plus 1%. It also agreed to pay levels 9-16, made up of assistant directors to directors-general, a projected CPI plus 0.5%.
"Mobilisation of our members for the mother of all fights against the onslaught by government will begin in earnest and once again we want to remind government that the lockdown will not last forever and when it ends Nehawu and its members and workers in general will emerge militant, strong, energised and inspired to pick up a real fight with government … to render the state system unworkable," Saphetha said.
He said the government’s failure on Wednesday "is an insult to workers and proves that the government does not value their hard work and resilience" while fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We are awaiting the date of the conciliation from the PSCBC and we will continue updating members and workers on developments," said Saphetha.
Court processes
The Public Servants Association of SA (PSA) assistant GM, Reuben Maleka, told Business Day that it would file court papers on Wednesday, after it became apparent the government would renege on the wage agreement. The PSA is the second-largest public service union after Nehawu.
Mchunu’s spokesperson, Vukani Mbhele, told Business Day that they would abide by any court processes as it was the "logical thing to do".
Cosatu’s chief negotiator for public sector unions, Mugwena Maluleke, said they would fight for the salary increases through the conciliation and arbitration processes. The trade union federation has said it would support Nehawu should it elect to down tools over the matter.
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