By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South African Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) has ordered the City of Tshwane to pay workers their 5.4% salary increases for the year beginning July 1.
South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) affiliated workers took to the streets to demand the implementation of the agreement.
The city claims it doesn’t have the money to pay the salary hikes, has been ordered to implement the increases within 10 days.
Speaking to the provincial Samwu leaders inside Tshwane House, mayor Cilliers Brink said: “We are not being hostile. We simply need to look at the finances of the city.” He said the municipality’s finances were in a terrible state and that the City management would like to talk to organised labour to show them the financial problems facing the metro.
“In the meantime we would have to present a funding plan to the National Treasury because the budget of Tshwane is unfunded,” he said.
Brink said it was simply not feasible to pay R600 million extra towards salary increases, adding that the City respected the collective agreement but would apply to be exempted from it.
He also issued an ultimatum to workers to return to work or face disciplinary action, including dismissal.
In a statement, Samwu said the compliance order, which was issued on 27 July, comes after it wrote to the SALGBC to enforce the collective agreement.
The order directs the City of Tshwane to pay workers’ increases as follows; Salary increase of 5.4% effective from 1 July 2023, increase of minimum wage to R9531.54, homeowners’ allowance be increased to R1011.77, all linked benefits and conditions of service to be increased by 5.4% effective from 1 July 2023.
“As SAMWU, we are pleased that the SALGBC has acted and protected collective bargaining and stopped the attempts by the City to reverse the gains made by workers and for workers,” the union said in a statement on Thursday.
“Should council fail to ensure that the administration complies with the order, it will be complicit and enablers of the administration in denying workers their salary increases for the second time in three years.
“We will, as a union, be monitoring the implementation of this order while also continuing the fight for the implementation of the 2021 3.5% salary increase, which the city failed to implement.”