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BL Premium reports that public sector unions representing the country’s teachers, nurses, police and prison officials have tabled a list of joint demands for wage increases at a rate more than double that of inflation.
This underscores the tough negotiations ahead and has the potential to pit the more than 1.3-million public servants against the government of national unity (GNU). The primary demands tabled on Tuesday at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) include a one-year 12% wage increase across the board. The unions’ other demands include a R2,500 housing allowance increment across the board and that the danger allowance be increased from the current R597 to R1000, a performance bonus, bursary schemes for dependents of government employees, and permanent employment for education/teacher assistants, community health workers and reservists. Consumer inflation eased to 4.6% in July, the lowest rate since July 2021. The wage negotiations for the 2025/26 financial year come after the country’s public servants received a wage increase of 4.7% on 1 April, in line with a wage deal signed by the employer and four unions at the PSCBC in March 2023. Relations between the government and unions soured after the state reneged on implementing the last leg of a three-year wage deal signed in 2018, citing a lack of funds.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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