This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
BL Premium reports that public sector unions have set themselves up for a big battle with the state, asking for a wage increase well above inflation less than a week after finance minister Tito Mboweni staked the credibility of the government’s fiscal framework on keeping a lid on compensation costs.
According to the demands tabled at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council on Monday, unions have asked for an across-the-board increase equivalent to the consumer price index (CPI) plus 4%. Having started negotiations in previous years by demanding double-digit settlements, union representatives said this was not excessive. Moreover, the proposed settlement is far in excess of what has been seen in the private sector, where workers have faced wage cuts and retrenchments in the wake of the Covid-19-induced economic shock since early 2020. But, asking for an increase across the board may be a tactical move by the unions, as it leaves space to move over to a sliding scale as negotiations progress in earnest. Mugwena Maluleke, chief negotiator for the Cosatu public sector unions, said unions were not asking for double-digit increases, which showed they were "acknowledging that the economy was not well”. The Treasury is predicting that CPI will average 3.9% in 2021. The negotiations are set to be tough and will further test relations between the governing ANC and its allies months before the country holds local elections. Cutting the wage bill is critical in terms of SA’s fiscal framework, and Mboweni last week unveiled a budget that proposed what amounted to a wage freeze for the next three years.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Claudi Mailovich at BusinessLive
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page