BL Premium reports that the national Treasury has set the tone for tough wage negotiations with public sector unions by outlining budgetary constraints and a commitment to keep spending in check.
In a presentation entitled “Public sector remuneration analysis and forecasting”, Treasury official in the budget office Marumo Maake said it was important to align public sector wage increases with budgetary commitments. “Government faces large spending pressures, including the risk of higher-than-budgeted public service wages, demands for additional funding from financially distressed state-owned companies, and calls for permanent increases in spending that exceed available resources,” Maake indicated in the presentation dated 22 April. Maake’s comments, made at a special meeting in the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council, came as the unions and the government prepared for wage negotiations covering the 2023/2024 fiscal year. His presentation can be seen as the first salvo against union leaders, who may be emboldened to ask for higher salaries from the government as the tax take has been many billions of rand more than it expected about a year ago. As part of the bargaining process, the partners often meet to exchange perspectives on the context in which the negotiations will be taking place, and some use the opportunity to indirectly indicate their forthcoming positions. In the document, the Treasury, which has pencilled in about R599bn in compensation for millions of state employees such as teachers, nurses and police officers in the 2023/2024 financial year, said the devastation caused by the flooding in KwaZulu-Natal made it even more important to keep the public sector wage bill in check.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thuletho Zwane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page