By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The government made a final offer to public service unions of an effective 7.5% wage increase offer in the deadlocked wage talks, which will come at a cost of R31 billion to the fiscus.
The government announced the adjustment to its offer on Thursday evening, hours after seven unions representing an estimated 800 000 members announced a national day of action in protest against the previous offer of a 3% increase. Unions are demanding a 10% baseline increase.
The Public Servants’ Association (PSA) already held a one-day strike last week over the deadlocked wage talks. Next week the union will be joined in another day of action by public service unions affiliated with the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu).
A statement from the Department of Public Service and Administration said the adjustment to its offer was informed by its need to balance public servants’ livelihoods with the stability of the Medium-term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) tabled by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in October.
“Public servants received the final offer of an average of 7.5%, [which is] 3% pensionable and 4.5% non-pensionable at a cost of R34 billion to the fiscus, for the 2022/23 financial year. This covers public servants in the level 1 to 12 band in line with the final government offer made to the parties to the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council,” the statement said.
The statement said government implemented the 3% offer in October because if the MTBPS had been tabled without the offer being effected, it would have been lost, requiring that the parties wait for the next financial year “with no guarantees of whether the money will still be made available in the budget or not”.
“The government remains committed to the bargaining council processes and engagement with organised labour. The maintenance of labour peace remains a critical part of the efforts to professionalise the public service as contained in the Cabinet-approved professionalisation framework,” the statement said.
The department warned that if parties failed to secure a new agreement and settle the matter of wages, the February Budget speech would inform the limits for wage negotiations.
“As the government, we remain committed to respecting organised labour, safeguarding the collective bargaining processes and promoting labour peace. All action will be taken to ensure that the bargaining process is protected,” the statement said.
Trade union federations Saftu and Fedusa backed Cosatu’s rejection of the government’s offer saying they will continue with protests as planned.
“The South African Federation of Trade Unions rejects the 3% which the Public Service Administration misleadingly says it is 7.5%, it is still that 3% that we reject,” said Saftu’s Trevor Shaku.
Fedusa’s Betty Moleya also stood behind the rejection: “The is no offer on the table from the employer the last offer of 3% was not withdrawn and we are yet to see the employer come back to the negotiating table.”
The acting Public Service and Administration Minister Thulas Nxesi said that public servants negotiated after the medium-term budget was already tabled.
“You have a situation where the minister will go to parliament and present his budget for the medium-term budget statement and after that, you think you will negotiate it’s already determined its law.”