Fin24 reports that the SA Local Government Association (Salga), which represents SA's 257 municipalities, last week signed a five-year wage deal with the SA Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu).
The "historic" deal will see a 6% wage increase in the current financial year. The consumer price inflation (CPI)-linked agreement followed "intense negotiations" in July and August. The final breakthrough came on 15 August when the "facilitators issued a proposal that all parties accepted as a fair compromise". The agreement, effective from 1 July 2024, remains in force until 30 June 2029. Key features include employees receiving a 6% salary increase in the 2024-2025 financial year, with 4.5% effective from 1 July and an additional 1.5% from 1 March 2025. The 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 financial years will see salary increases set at CPI plus 0.75%, with increases pegged at CPI plus 1.25% in the 2027-2028 and 2028-2029 financial years. Salga also introduced a revamped exemption process, using a set of financial distress indicators from the National Treasury to assist struggling municipalities. Samwu said the agreement would "directly impact" 300,000 municipal workers and their families and represented "stability, consistency and long-term benefits for municipal workers across the country." Samwu said that as part of the agreement, employees earning R22,000 per month or less who did not receive any form of housing allowance would benefit from a once-off payment of R2,000 in the first year of the agreement, "acknowledging the urgent need for housing support for low-income workers". Imatu’s Johan Koen said they had given a firm commitment to engage with Salga on methods to optimise productivity in the sector over the next five years.
Read the full original of the report in the above regard compiled by Nick Wilson at Fin24 (registration required)
Read too, Salga signs five-year wage deal with municipal unions, at BusinessLive
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