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BL Premium reports that Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s fiscal targets looked in jeopardy as trade unions said on Sunday that they flatly refused to agree to revisit 2020 wage increases.
This was indicated ahead of crucial government, ANC and labour meetings on Monday. Mboweni dropped a bombshell on Wednesday, announcing that R160bn would be cut from the state wage bill, beginning with this year’s annual increase due to be implemented on 1 April. On Sunday, SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) general secretary Mugwena Maluleke, who heads Cosatu’s joint management team of public sector unions, said: "There is a willingness to engage, but reopening the three-year agreement is not on the table. Let us negotiate for 2021. As labour, we have already made our sacrifices when the last agreement was signed. We cannot ask workers to sacrifice twice." He said that labour wanted the government to show it evidence on how it had cracked down on corruption and inefficiencies in negotiating the next round. Khaya Xaba of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), the second-largest public-sector union, said on Sunday: "We will not allow anything that seeks to take away workers’ gains. The government must cut wasteful expenditure and corruption instead." General secretary of Fedusa, Riefdah Ajam, said the federation’s member unions would declare a dispute at the next meeting of the bargaining chamber and that "We are no ways going to allow matters to be reopened." Nactu general secretary Narius Moloto said: "Salary cuts will never be acceptable, especially if they come as a result of the mismanagement and looting that have been taking place. It’s fundamentally wrong."
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carol Paton and Luyolo Mkentan at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
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