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BL Premium reports that the stage has been set for a bitter clash between the government and public sector unions, with the latter meeting on Monday to iron out sticking points in their demands for above-inflation wage increases.
However, the Treasury has said its approach to future negotiations would be to ensure the outcome aligns with both the country’s fiscal position as well as prevailing economic conditions, which does not augur well for workers receiving salary increases in the coming years. The new public service wage demands are due to be tabled later on Monday, which will start what is expected to be an arduous negotiating process. A new wage agreement is supposed to take effect on 1 April, but as in previous years negotiations are unlikely to be complete by then. The biggest sticking point with finalisation of the unions’ demands is apparently whether increases should be on a sliding scale, with different salary increases for different salary bands, or one increase across the board. The sliding scale demand would be for an increase of the change in the consumer price index (CPI) plus four percentage points on the lower salary bands, and CPI plus two points on the higher salary bands. The across-the-board proposal would see a demand of CPI plus two percentage points for all salary bands. The latest CPI put inflation at 3.2% in January, but the Treasury is predicting it will average 3.9% during 2021. However, the unions agree they want to negotiate a single-year agreement. This is because they were burnt by the state last year when it refused to implement the final year of the last multi-term wage agreement.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Claudi Mailovich at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page