Fin24 reports that public sector trade unions, which on Monday lost their last-ditch attempt to enforce a collective agreement signed by government in 2018, say that trust with government has been fundamentally breached, with the consequence that workers will not agree any time soon to another multi-year agreement.

The Public Servants Association (PSA) is also threatening industrial action after the Constitutional Court ruled on Monday that the third leg of the 2018 wage agreement was unlawful as government representatives had signed the deal in the knowledge that it had not been budgeted by Treasury and made no effort to find the money thereafter. This was a breach of the Constitution and the Public Finance Management Act, the court found. The dispute dates back to 2020, when after two years of above-inflation wage increases under a three-year agreement, government reneged on the third leg, claiming that it did not have the funds to pay. Had the judgment gone in favour of the unions, workers would have scored R75.6 billion in back pay and would have higher starting salaries for 2022. The parties are due to begin negotiating a new agreement in two weeks’ time at the public sector co-ordinating bargaining council. Mugwena Maluleke of the SA Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu) and the bargaining coordinator for Cosatu public sector unions said the court outcome was "disappointing and regrettable that workers were not going to get the increases promised through no fault of their own but because the employer had not complied with regulations". The PSA, the next biggest union after Sadtu, said it was extremely concerned about the "adverse consequences for the future of collective bargaining and the state’s commitment to honour collective agreements". Popcru described the outcome as "a sad day for collective bargaining in our country".

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carol Paton at Fin24

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