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BL Premium reports that the government has offered public servants a revised wage offer that amounts to a 1.5% increase plus a R1,000 cash allowance, which would result in an effective 11.7% increase for the lowest paid public servants.
A release issued on Sunday by the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) also indicated that unions would be seeking seek a mandate from their members on the revised offer. Though that could mark a softening in the stance of public-sector unions, which have been locked in negotiations with the government for months, the PSCBC said it was too soon to draw conclusions based on the revised offer. “The fact that unions will present this to their members should not in any way be seen as an indication of acceptance or rejection of the offer,” said PSCBC general secretary Frikkie de Bruin. The revised offer by the government is focused on improving the non-pensionable cash allowance of R978 that was previously offered and now provides a minimum cash equivalent of R1,000 for all employees across all employment levels. Though the cash allowance would be non-pensionable, members could make voluntary contributions to the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF). The adjusted offer equates to level 1 employees receiving an amount equal to a cost of living adjustment based on an assumed consumer price index (CPI) of 4.2% plus 7.5%, or a straight 11.7% increase based on current salary levels. The proposed increases would be instituted on a sliding scale with government workers on higher salary levels receiving lower increases than their more modestly paid counterparts. The proposed implementation date of the draft agreement is 1 April 2021.
Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Garth Theunissen at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page