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BL Premium reports that, after a pre-wage negotiation briefing by the National Treasury, public sector unions said they would press their case for higher wages for workers at a Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSBC) meeting on Friday.
The unions said their members were facing greater economic hardship and cited rising interest rates and accelerating inflation that was driving up food and transport costs. The unions’ reaction came after a presentation by Treasury official Marumo Maake at a special meeting of the PSBC last Friday. Maake argued that alignment in the financial year 2023/2024 was critical and that higher wage agreements would pose a significant risk to the fiscal framework. Fedusa’s Reuben Maleka said the issues around large spending pressures faced by the government and the risk of higher-than-budgeted public service wages were not new and were a policy position stated by the employer ahead of negotiations. He said the unions would respond on 29 April with their analysis of the economy. Cosatu’s Itumeleng Molatlhegi advised that unions have asked the Treasury for clarity on SA’s debt situation: “Treasury says it can’t afford more debt but they should ask, what brought about the indebtedness? Was it the overspending on employees or the mismanagement of funds, corruption, inadequacies in the system? We have sought clarity on this and want the Treasury to articulate what encompasses total debt.” Molatlhegi asserted that workers could not go another year without an increase above the nominal inflation rate of 5.9%.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thuletho Zwane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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