Cape Town - Public sector unions are readying their 840 000 members for a nationwide strike over the government’s decision to give them only a 3% wage increase.
The Public Servants Association (PSA) said its 235 000 members would strike in all provinces on Thursday.
The PSA’s Western Cape members will be marching to Parliament where they will hand over a memorandum to Premier Alan Winde’s representative at 1pm on Thursday.
After a seven-month deadlock on salaries, and to the ire of unions, acting Public Service and Administration Minister Thulas Nxesi implemented a unilateral 3% wage increase, which was followed by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana rubber-stamping the average wage bill increase rate at 3% in his recent mini-budget.
The unilateral implementation came after negotiations between the government and labour collapsed, leading to unions’ accusations that the government had been negotiating in bad faith. The wage negotiations began in May.
Titled “urgent”, a broadcast message sent through the government’s internal human resources system shows that the 3% salary adjustments will be paid to government employee’s accounts on November 17.
Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) and the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa) have already rejected the offer, while the SA Democratic Teachers Union begrudgingly accepted the proposal.
National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) spokesperson Lwazi Nkolonzi said they also rejected the offer, and would consult with workers, and a way forward may be announced before the end of the week.
PSA Western Cape manager Aileen Mosetic said the drawn-out salary negotiations had yielded no acceptable results. “When negotiations failed, the employer unilaterally implemented an unacceptable 3% salary increase.
“The PSA balloted our members and the majority voted in favour of a strike,” she said.
Mosetic said the union was “disgusted” with the manner in which Nxesi and Godongwana had treated their members and their disregard for collective bargaining and the union.
“By disregarding the call to continue negotiating on the increase, the employer has shown that they have no regard for collective bargaining.
“By doing so they have set the tone for absolute chaos, and labour peace is at risk,” Mosetic said.
The Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council recently issued an outcome for conciliation between Nehawu, PSA, Popcru, Denosa, Horspesa and the Public Service and Administration Department and Treasury.
Popcru records its members to be at 120 000; PSA, 235 000; Denosa, 84 000; Sapu, 60000; Nehawu, 277000; and Horspesa, 70000.
Nkolonzi said Cosatu’s joint mandating committee meets today and tomorrow to develop a “comprehensive programme of action” and “mobilise members towards a strike”.
“We have not declared a strike at this moment because the conciliation (between labour and Public Service and Treasury) ended on November 1.
“We’ve been having lunch-time pickets and engaging the workers. There is going to be a press briefing … sometime this week, outlining comprehensively our programme of action.”