Press Statement dated 21 May 2018
The Public Servants Association (PSA), as the only Union to outright reject the employer’s wage offer for public servants has again cautioned against signing the agreement as other unions postpone signing the agreement.
Public Service wage negotiations, which officially commenced on 5 October 2017, came to an end on 18 May 2018 after protracted negotiations. Parties to the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC), after side-lining the PSA, engaged in a bilateral on 17 and 18 May 2018 to finalise outstanding matters before the employer tabled its final offer during a Special Council meeting on 18 May 2018. This resulted in labour formally announcing in Council on 18 May 2018 that the employer’s offer was accepted with parties scheduled to return on Monday, 21 May 2018 to sign the agreement.
At the Special Meeting on 21 May 2018, convened with the sole purpose of signing the agreement, labour indicated that parties would still sign the agreement, but not as anticipated at the meeting. According to the PSCBC Constitution, parties have 21 days to append their signatures.
The PSA, which is one of the largest unions in the Public Service, previously rejected the offer and declared a dispute with the employer on its failure to reach agreement.
“The PSA, in the best interest of public servants, hopes that the various unions that intend to still append their signatures, will not sign an agreement that will bind all public servants to a multi-term agreement and a meagre salary increase based on a projected CPI. This is not even a real average CPI, but a projection that will be made by the very same employer that will have to implement the increases. Such an increase may be as low as 3% or 4%,” said PSA General Manager, Ivan Fredericks.
“In addition, the delinking of the payment of a housing allowance for spouses employed in the Public Service is a constitutional right. All persons in the Republic have the right not to not be discriminated against based on marital status in terms of Section 9 of the Constitution of the Republic. Despite public servants being deprived of this right for years, this draft agreement does not seek to immediately restore this right or with retrospective effect, but rather implementing this in stages and based on salary levels over two years.
“The PSA calls on public servants to stand for their rights and to support the call for a real increase, especially for the next two years,” said Mr Fredericks.
Issued by Public Servants Association (PSA)