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Fin24 reports that as the public service wage talks grind on with little progress, the Public Servants Association (PSA) will begin balloting its members this week on whether to commence with its first strike action in over a decade.
The last time the PSA went on strike in the public service was in 2010, when it demanded 8.6% wage hike after having rejected government's 6.5% offer. That strike was successful. Now, 12 years later, the PSA is demanding a 6.5% wage increase as government offers unions 2%. The PSA represents around 235,000 public sector employees. In 2020, the public service had an estimated 830,000 employees, including police officers and teachers. Government will apparently only be prepared to raise its baseline offer to 3% if it can introduce cost containment measures, including early retirement without penalties, an exit mechanism for employees between the ages of 60 and 64, and voluntary severance packages, subject to an assessment of critical skills. PSA spokesperson Reuben Maleka confirmed that the union would be undertaking a ballot process this week: "Indeed, we are in the process to ballot our members with a possibility that we call out strike action. We should start before Friday." He said the union was not prepared to consider the government's conditions for a revised offer of 3%.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24
- Read too, Countdown begins: union to ballot public servants on wage strike, at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page