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Fin24 reports that nine public sector trade unions indicated on Thursday that they would be embarking on an "indefinite strike" to force the government to raise last year's wage increase.
The unions also said they would not attend the start of this year's wage talks, which the government had hoped would kick off on Friday at a meeting of the Public Sector Co-ordinated Bargaining Council, because they believed the government would have nothing substantial to offer. The unions concerned include some of the biggest in the public sector, namely Nehawu and Popcru. But, one of Cosatu's biggest affiliates – the SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) – and trade unions affiliated to Fedusa do not support the action. Fedusa, which includes the Public Servants Association (PSA), supported strike action last year and held a number of one-day protest actions, but it stated on Thursday that its affiliates were ready to move on and begin talks on the 2023/24 settlement. The reluctance of Fedusa’s unions and Sadtu to support industrial action makes a successful strike in the public sector difficult. The nine unions concerned are "engaging members to revive the mandate, mobilise and ballot them for strike action". They will launch the seven-day notice period for a strike on 22 February, the day the national budget is tabled in Parliament. The dispute between public servants and government dates back to 2020, when government reneged on the final year of a three-year agreement. Nehawu’s December Mavuso explained that union leaders had not called on workers to strike last year because they wanted to give parties in the negotiations time to find each other. “We are in a position now where unions have given us a mandate. Workers were ready to strike last year and have always been ready. We have now arrived at the decisive moment," he said.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carol Paton at Fin24
- Read too, Government workers up the ante on pay dispute, at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
- And also, Public service unions vow to return to the picket lines in February, at EWN
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page