BL Premium reports that four more public service unions were issued with strike certificates on Wednesday after marathon talks failed to break the wage deadlock at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC), bringing the country a step closer to debilitating strike action that could cripple government services.

The strike certificates effectively give Denosa, Nehawu, Popcru and Hospersa the right to give the state as employer a seven-day notice of their intention to embark on industrial action. The four unions declared a dispute at the PSCBC after rejecting the government’s final revised 3% offer, including continuation of the R1,000-a-month after-tax cash gratuity ending in March 2023. The SA Policing Union and the Public Servants Association were issued with strike certificates late in October. The PSA, representing more than 235,000 public servants, has already served the government with notice of its intention to down tools. Denosa’s Khaya Sodidi indicated: “The matter remains unresolved, so what happens now is that Denosa, Nehawu, Popcru and Hospersa have been issued with certificates of nonresolution. We are starting the balloting process, where we will be consulting our members on the way forward. We will be guided by them on how to go forward.” Department of Public Service & Administration spokesperson Moses Mushi said: “We respect what’s happening in the bargaining council currently. The government is implementing the 3% offer and continuation of the R1,000 cash gratuity, but negotiations [must continue].”

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive

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