Business Report writes that the National Treasury on Wednesday pleaded for a “fair and reasonable compromise” between the government and state employees in the current round of wage talks, charging that this was in the public interest.
Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba said there needed to be an appreciation that the country was going through tough economic times and that public sector wage agreements must be affordable to the current fiscal framework. “The government will approach the wage negotiations with a view to getting the best deal in the current fiscal framework so that the deal we arrive at is affordable to the fiscus,” he stated. The Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) released on Wednesday provides for an overall increase of 7.3% a year to accommodate improvements in conditions of service. “Many departments are already at risk of exceeding this limit, even assuming that personnel numbers do not increase,” according to the document. Cosatu reacted that the government needed to stop blaming teachers, nurses, police officers, prison warders, doctors and municipal street cleaners for the wage bill. “It must reduce the out-of-control salaries of state-owned enterprises’ chief executives, executives and political office-bearers including the directors-general,” the labour federation stated.
- Read the original of this report by Kabelo Khumalo in full at SA Labour News
- Read too, Wage deal public servants want may bust expenditure targets, Gigaba warns, at BusinessLive
- And also, Growing public sector wage bill threatens public services, at BusinessLive
- Read Cosatu’s press statement on the MTBPS at Politicsweb
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page