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SA: Public Sector Strike Looms after Unions Claim Deadlock |
| Source: |
iol.co.za |
| Source Date: |
Monday, May 09, 2011 |
| Focus: |
ICT for MDGs
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| Country: |
South Africa |
| Created: |
May 09, 2011 |
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South Africa could face another public sector strike. Unions said wage talks with the state had reached a deadlock – but any industrial action is unlikely to take place before the May 18 local government elections.
Cosatu and the Independent Labour Caucus, representing 14 unions and about 1.3 million state employees in the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCB), said on Friday that talks reached deadlock on Thursday night and an outside facilitator might be needed to help broker an agreement.
The unions in February tabled a demand for a 10 percent salary increase – since lowered to nine percent – and have rejected the government’s counter-offers, which started at 4.8 percent and now stand at 5.2 percent.
Cosatu’s Mugwena Maluleke told Independent Newspapers the deadlock was due to “the slow movement of the government”. He said the union wanted a response within two or three days, or would initiate a meeting to force the employer to appoint a facilitator.
But Dumisani Nkwamba, spokesman for Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi, rejected the unions’ claims, saying there was no breakdown in negotiations as far as the government was concerned.
Nkwamba said Baloyi was shocked by the unions’ decision to communicate details of the wage talks through the media, despite an agreement to negotiate behind closed doors “in the interests of promptly finding an amicable solution… The process is a challenging one and is ongoing until a compromise is reached,” said Nkwamba.
In a statement, the Cosatu unions and the Independent Labour Caucus said projected CPI for 2011 was 4.8 percent.
“In the light of the present increases in the prices of food, electricity and fuel, as well as the expected increase in the prime bank rate, a real increase of 0.4 percent is totally unacceptable. Due to the lack of urgency by the employer to conclude a resolution with a view to implement salary adjustments by May 1, the parties in the PSCB unfortunately last night reached a deadlock. This came after the employer tabled a meagre revised offer of 5.1 then 5.2 percent increase in response to our compromise demand of nine percent.”
The unions said the government had moved by only 0.4 percent while labour had shifted by one percent – “which demonstrates (the employer’s) unwillingness to conclude these negotiations amicably”.
Other issues, including housing and medical aid, had still to be addressed, the unions said, while labour had tabled its initial demand as early as February to ensure the wage talks were “concluded timeously… Our demands essentially aim to ensure workers are not the hardest hit, given our unpredictable economic trends.”
The agreement signed after last year’s public sector strike provided for the implementation date for salary increases to move from July 1 to May 1, requiring negotiations to be finalised in April.
Last week Nehawu spokesman Sizwe Pamla said the organisation was concerned, but hopeful, about the missed deadline. “We had tried to fast-track the process by consolidating our demands as early as possible.” He said unions had not taken the government’s offer to members because it was “too nonsensical”.
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SA: Public Sector Strike Looms after Unions Claim Deadlock South Africa could face another public sector strike Unions said wage talks with the state had reached a deadlock – but any industrial action is unlikely to take place before the May 18 local government elections
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