PSA members voting on strike action after failed wage negotiations

Members of the Public Servants Association (PSA) will vote on whether to go ahead with a public sector strike after wage negotiations with the government deadlocked.

Speaking to The Citizen on Monday, Acting Deputy General Manager of members affairs at PSA, Reuben Maleka said the electronic vote by the union’s members will run until Friday.

“Our balloting will run until Friday. We need to give each and every member an opportunity to cast a ballot,” Maleka said.

He said the union has obtained a certificate of non-resolution and is ready to declare strike action if that is what its members vote for. He said the PSA will give government seven days’ notice of the strike action.

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PSA demanding 3% salary increase

This comes as the union declared a wage dispute on Friday after public wage negotiations failed. The PSA is demanding a 3% salary hike, but the government is insisting on 2%.

Maleka said they are disappointed in how the government has handled the negotiations.

“The PSA declared a dispute and started balloting the union’s members on 19 August 2022 on strike action as 30 days have lapsed since the declaration of the dispute.”

He said the union’s public service coordinating bargaining council on Thursday rejected the government’s proposed cost-containment measures. They stipulated that the employer must officially table a revised offer without any preconditions.

The union represents more than 235 000 public-sector employers.

The public servants are also unhappy that they have not received salary increases for three years.

The union has accused government of refusing to implement a previous resolution over salary increases.

“This robbed public servants of a 5.4% increase that will never be recovered when dealing with a government that has no will to conclude current wage negotiations,” added Maleka.

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