Public service unions have rejected the government’s revised final offer of 3% for SA’s more than 1.3-million public servants, who are demanding inflation-beating increases, risking debilitating strike action that could affect government operations and delivery of crucial services to the public.
The unions are expected to descend on the capital city, Tshwane, on Tuesday to deliver a list of demands to the Treasury and President Cyril Ramaphosa, while others are set to march to the offices of the public service co-ordinating bargaining council (PSCBC) in Centurion on the same day.
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), which represents 160,000 police, prisons and traffic officers and has rejected the 3% offer, said its march on Tuesday aims to highlight its dissatisfaction over the wage offer and the manner in which worker issues are addressed by the employer.
The 3% offer, which was tabled at the PSCBC on August 30, is seen to be in line with the government’s commitment to slash the R665bn public service wage bill, which eats up more than a third of its spending, to an average annual rate of 1.8%.
Unions were given 21 days to seek a mandate from their members on the 3% offer, which includes a R1,000 aftertax cash gratuity payable to all public servants until March 2023.
In the event that the unions formally reject the 3% offer, they would need to declare a dispute, which would unlock a conciliation process within the PSCBC. If the parties fail to break the deadlock, a strike certificate would be issued, allowing workers to go on a strike, PSCBC spokesperson Oomang Parag said.
The government previously tabled a 2% wage offer, citing lack of funds before hiking it to 3% to match the 3% increase recently offered to ministers and their deputies, premiers, MECs, MPs, MPLs, judges and traditional leaders.
Popcru spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said the labour federation Cosatu affiliate invited “sister unions” to join the march on Tuesday. “[We] are confident of their support, more so because the issues we are to raise cut across the spectrum of workers both within the public and the private sectors alike,” he said in a statement on Monday.
Zola Saphetha, general secretary of the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), one of Cosatu’s largest unions with a membership of about 108,000, said in a statement on Monday: “Our support for the national march is propelled by the struggle faced by workers in the criminal justice cluster and workers in the public sector in general, who are subjected to unbearable working conditions.”
Nehawu represents nurses, doctors, pharmacists, cleaners, dispensary and reception clerks, community health workers, ambulance and morgue workers, community care workers and laboratory technicians, among others.
“As Nehawu, we fully support this national march by our sister union.”
Popcru’s demands, among other things, include the reversal of austerity measures/budget cuts; filling of vacant posts; increase in danger allowances; access to a portion of pension funds before retirement; increase in clothing/uniform allowance; and building safe police stations. The union wants the government to deal with police killings and attacks on correctional services officials.
Mugwena Maluleke, general secretary of the SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu), which has a membership of about 260,000, has said it will announce later this week whether the membership has accepted or rejected the offer.
Reuben Maleka, assistant GM of the Public Servants Association (PSA), which represents more than 235,000 members, had said the union would know by Monday how many members support or reject the 3% offer, following its mandate-seeking process. Calls to Maleka on Monday went answered.
The PSA, Popcru, Nehawu and Sadtu jointly account for about 763,000 of the more than 1.3-million public servants, and if they were to down tools over their demand for higher wages, key government departments and services, including schooling, hospitals and community health-care programmes, would be affected.
The unions initially demanded a 10% increase when talks began in May, but trimmed the figure to 6.5% in an effort to reach a pay deal without having to down tools. The government’s 3% offer is below the headline inflation rate of 6.5% the Reserve Bank has forecast for 2022.
Cosatu breakaway SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) is set to picket outside the PSCBC offices in Centurion on Tuesday in support of above-inflation increases for public servants.
Saftu’s public service unions, including the SA Policing Union, the SA Correctional Services Workers Unions and the National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers, have rejected the 3% offer, saying it would mean workers’ loss of “real increases to their wages and pensions for three consecutive years since 2020”.
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