The Star reports that one of Cosatu’s largest affiliates has slammed the government’s salary increase offer of up to 5.3% to the lowest-paid public servants, saying politicians gave themselves more than this as a pay hike.

The SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), which has over 250 000 members, rejected the state’s offer last month.

Sadtu general secretary Mugwena Maluleke said the offer didn’t take into account that public servants’ standards of living would be affected by a negative increase.

The government is offering employees in the lowest 10 salary levels a consumer price index (CPI) salary increase, while proposing that the two levels of middle management have pay hikes of CPI minus 1%.

The University of Stellenbosch’s Bureau for Economic Research has forecast 5% inflation this year but expects it to increase to 5.3% next year.

“They did not get a negative increase as parliamentarians,” complained Maluleke.

In November, President Jacob Zuma announced salary increases of 4% for ministers, their deputies, MECs and judges, 4.5% for MPs, MPLs, kings and queens, while traditional leaders and magistrates received between 5% and 8%.

The representatives of public servants are demanding salary increases of between 10% and 12% depending on the salary scale.

In the 2017/18 financial year, public servants received a 7.3% pay hike. An agreement was signed at the end of March.

Wage negotiations continued yesterday at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) in Tshwane.

The talks took place under the facilitation of two Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration commissioners.

Public Servants Association (PSA) deputy general manager Tahir Maepa warned that if the talks were not concluded by the March 31 deadline, government employees might go on strike.

The PSA is part of the Independent Labour Caucus of 12 unions representing more than 420 000 workers at the PSCBC.

Maepa said the government’s offer was ridiculous and unions would not even bother taking it to their members.

”They upped the offer (yesterday) but it’s still the same, ridiculous,” he said.

According to Maepa, unions expect a revised and improved offer next week when negotiations resume and several concessions are expected to be made.

But as things stand, he said, the government’s offer was not worthy of being entertained.

The government has already acceded to some of the unions’ demands, including the Public Investment Corporation establishing a housing investment portfolio to benefit public servants directly.

Maepa said there was also an agreement that the housing allowance be delinked from marriage, meaning public servants married to each other would be allowed to get separate allowances, which is not currently the case.

Last month, the government accepted its employees’ demands that 45 days or four months’ paternity leave be granted to male public servants in terms of the surrogacy arrangement.

However, the demand for three days’ annual leave for religious observance was rejected by the government, which accused the unions of not promoting the founding provisions of the constitution.

The government is also investigating the feasibility of its workers’ demand that their children attending higher education institutions be granted bursaries or be subsidised.

The original of this report by Loyiso Sidimba appeared on page 6 of The Star of 18 January 2018

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