Union leaders for 1.3-million public servants have trimmed their wage demands to 6.5%, raising the prospect of breaking a deadlock that threatens to shut down schools, hospitals and government departments.
Labour and the government have been locked in talks for weeks after unions rejected the government’s offer of a 2% pay increase plus the extension of a R1,000 cash gratuity.
They had been demanding as much as a 10% increase until last week when, according to Frikkie de Bruin, an official at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC), they cut it to 6.5%.
The trimmed figure raises the possibility of ending a dispute that has cast doubt over finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s pledge to restrict growth in the R665bn public sector salary bill.
“The parties remain optimistic in terms of finding common ground,” De Bruin told Business Day, suggesting that the government may need only to convince union leaders to accept its calculations that its wage deal proposals equate to a 6.5% pay increase to get the deal over the line.
The state has argued before the PSCBC — a platform where the employer and unions discuss and agree on wages and other conditions of employment — that its R1,000 after-tax cash gratuity equates to 4.5%, taking its overall pay rise offer to 6.5% when combined with a 2% cost-of-living adjustment offer.
“The employer is arguing that the total percentage to the employees is 6.5%.
“The employer is stating that there will be no backpay from April 1. The employer is stating that the increase will be with effect on the day the agreement is signed,” De Bruin said.
The bargaining council is awaiting “confirmation from parties” on the employer’s proposal, he said.
Wage bill
If accepted, the 6.5% wage offer would undermine the government’s budgetary commitments to restrict growth in the R665bn public sector wage bill, which eats up more than one-third of its spending, to an average annual rate of 1.8%.
Simon Hlungwani, convener of Cosatu’s joint mandating committee, told Business Day that the labour federation has embarked on a mandate-seeking process on the employer’s offer, which he expects will be concluded on Friday.
The Public Servants Association (PSA), which represents more than 200,000 employees, has described the 2% offer as “offensive to employees” who have not received increases for the past three years.
PSA assistant GM Reuben Maleka has argued that the offer is below the 3% pay hike, backdated to April 2021, for officeholders ranging from ministers to judges.
De Bruin said: “PSA declared a mutual interest dispute to conciliation at the PSCBC on July 8. The matter is set down for conciliation on August 3 in line with the provisions” of the Labour Relations Act.
He said if there was no resolution at conciliation level, “the party may exercise their right” and embark on strike action.
The PSA’s stance reflects the broader discontent of workers. Eskom caved in to an “unaffordable” 7% increase and the SA Revenue Service shut some branches after its employees downed tools to support their double-digit wage demands.
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