Cosatu denies 7.5% wage offer
Various public sector workers joined provincial branches in a national strike to key government institutions rejecting the proposed 3% increase.
LIMPOPO – The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Limpopo said their union strikes are not only limited to the unwavering rejection of the proposed wage increase but also against officials with little regard towards the collective bargaining process.
The process involves working people, through their unions, negotiating contracts with their employers to determine their terms of employment, including pay, benefits, hours, leave, job health and safety policies, ways to balance work and family, and more.
On November 24 various public sector workers in the Limpopo joined provincial branches in a national strike to key government institutions rejecting the proposed 3% increase.
The Department of Public Service and Administration said the final offer comprises 3% pensionable and 4.5% non-pensionable funds which will kick in for the 2022/23 financial year.
However, Cosatu provincial secretary Hangwani Mashao says the government’s statement was misleading the public, adding that unions have not rejected a revised offer of 7.5%.
“The only final offer that was tabled was at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council and was the 3%”, says Mashao.
Members of the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union, South African Federation of Trade Union, National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers, South African Policing Union, and Cosatu marched through Landdros Maré Street to the Office of the Premier, Treasury, and Justice departments.
Treasury MEC Seaparo Sekoati accepted the memorandum of demands saying it will be passed over to the relevant office in the National Treasury.
Some unions including the Public Servants Association (PSA) had been embarking on lunchtime pickets recently, as the employer reportedly affirmed its plans to increase salaries of political bearers by 3% while those who are not only received 1.5% increase at the time.
“Unions are demanding a salary increase as they last received a real increase in 2019 and their pension stagnated since 2019. Posts are not being filled, resulting in all departments working with a skeleton staff, denying members of the public professional service that they deserve,” PSA provincial manager John Teffo commented.
