BL Premium reports that the government has rejected nearly all of the public sector unions’ double-digit pay hike demands in a demonstration of its commitment to keep its ballooning wage bill in check.
This potentially sets it on a collision course with the more than 1.3-million strong workforce. In a document outlining the government’s official position for the first time since the public sector unions put forward their demands, the state proposed the extension of the current the R1,000 after-tax cash gratuity to employees and a 1.5% pay progression hike, which is linked to years of service and is always pencilled into the budget. The extension of the after-tax gratuity can easily be covered by the R20.5bn already in the 2022/2023 budget. The offer is in line with the government’s budgetary commitments to restrict the growth in the R665bn public sector wage bill. The government also proposed that all other demands should be deferred to the 2023/2024 round of negotiations, which is due to start in July and end the following month. But, the wage proposal is miles away from the 10% pay increase demand tabled in recent weeks by union leaders representing teachers, nurses, police officers and other public servants. “We are not accepting the response of the employer. We are meeting again on May 31 as unions to chart the way forward. They [the employer] must go and revise their budget and come back with something that can be acceptable,” said Reuben Maleka of the Public Servants Association. The stances taken by the unions and the government — which is determined to rebalance public finances after the growth of remuneration over the past decade far outstripped inflation and GDP growth — raises the risk of a strike that could shut down parts of the economy.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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