The government has asked unions to postpone the long-awaited court case on wage increases for public sector workers until after February 1, saying it wants to work towards a settlement.
But unions have already indicated that they will not support a postponement and that the court case must go head.
The court case is set to be heard by the Labour Appeal Court on Wednesday. The unions, including the Public Servants Association (PSA), are asking the court to enforce the final year of a multi-term wage agreement they entered with the government.
Cosatu public sector unions originally tried to have the dispute resolved through arbitration, but this process halted after the state filed a counter-application to have the implementation of increases in the final year of the wage agreement declared unconstitutional.
The government reneged on the agreement that provided for wage increases in the financial year after finance minister Tito Mboweni mentioned big cuts to the wage bill.
The state attorney proposed in a letter sent on Tuesday to all parties, and seen by Business Day, that he was instructed by the department of public service & administration to call on all parties to consent to the hearing before the Labour Appeal Court being postponed from December 2 to after February 1. This would be subject to directions by the judge president and the court.
The state attorney said the reasons for proposing the postponement was that the government always considers the resolution of wage disputes by settlement with the representatives of its employees to be preferable to a determination by a court.
“Settlement would be preferable where there is a reasonable chance that the current dispute will go beyond the [Labour Appeal Court] and will only be finally determined much later,” the state attorney said in the letter.
The letter added that the government has called on unions to try to resolve the dispute through an out-of-court settlement.
“There is a realistic prospect of resolving the dispute among the parties, which would be preferable to having it determined by a court,” the state attorney said.
The state attorney said the government was exploring settlement of the wage agreement with all unions in the Public Sector Co-ordinating Bargaining Council.
“The settlement options under discussion require time,” the state attorney said, adding that it was reliably estimated that it would take about two months to sort out a settlement. “Time is required for the government to work out, calculate and then convey to the unions the precise details of what the settlement means for the different salary levels in the bargaining unit,” the state attorney said.
The government has asked unions to confirm by 1pm whether they could approach the court for a postponement.
Mugwena Maluleke, chief negotiator for the majority of the Cosatu unions, and Reuben Maleka, spokesperson for the PSA said they would not agree to a postponement of the matter and the court case should go ahead on Wednesday.
Maluleke said they believed the employer was using the postponement as a delay tactic.
"It is very disrespectful to the processes of engagement. We want the case to proceed tomorrow. Eight months waiting for salaries is too long," Maluleke said.
He said the issue about a settlement was only raised in a meeting with some unions on Monday, but that there was nothing on the table.
"They said they want to engage, they have an offer, [but] the offer has not been given to us. Clearly it's too late now," Maluleke said.
The PSA’s Maleka said if the government came up with any suggestions, it should be argued in court on Wednesday.
He said as far as they were aware, there was no settlement they were considering, and that there was nothing tangible on the table.
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