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BL Premium reports that a wage deal in the local government sector is far from being concluded as the parties keep contradicting each other, with the employer saying “meaningful progress” has been made, while unions dispute this, saying the talks are “nearing collapse”.
The SA Local Government Association (Salga), which represents the country’s 257 municipalities, and unions met at the SA Local Government Bargaining Council (Salgbc) for further negotiations last week. The parties agreed to extend the talks to allow a facilitator to formulate a proposal that would be acceptable to the parties. The SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) recently revised its wage demands from an increase of R4,000 across the board down to R2,500. The Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) also wants an increase of R2,500, while Salga has not moved from its position of offering the unions a 2.8% increase. Salga spokesperson Sivuyile Mbambato said a facilitator would try to bring the parties to an “orderly conclusion of the negotiations and avert a deadlock”. “Salga remains cautiously optimistic that the outcomes of the latest round of negotiations may result in an agreement that is in the best interest of municipal sustainability and labour peace,” said Mbambato. But Samwu’s Dumisane Magagula hit back at Salga, saying that throughout the negotiations the union had negotiated in good faith while the employer wanted labour to “literally beg for decent increases”. He added: “We are therefore taken aback by Salga’s statement that there are major strides made in municipal negotiations. The fact that Salga continues to draw a line in the negotiations, insisting on a below inflation increase and a total freeze on workers’ benefits is indication that parties in the bargaining council are far apart from each other.”
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page