Public service union calls 4.7% wage increase a ‘spit in the face’
Sadtu among signatories, Popcru threatens march
SA’s public service unions have threatened to down tools over the government’s implementation of the second and final leg of a wage deal reached at the bargaining council in 2023, warning the upcoming wage talks would be difficult as workers seek to claw back losses suffered over the past five years.
The department of public service and administration announced recently that public servants would receive a wage increase of 4.7% on April 1, in line with a wage deal signed by the employer and four unions at the public service co-ordinating bargaining council (PSCBC) in Pretoria in March 2023. Employees set to benefit do not include senior management.
The two-year wage agreement was signed by the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), Public Servants’ Association (PSA), National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA (Naptosa), and the Health & Other Services Personnel Trade Union of SA (Hospersa).
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) and three other unions, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa) and the SA Policing Union (Sapu), did not sign the wage agreement in protest over the government’s decision to unilaterally implement a 3% wage increase for public servants in October 2022, among other grievances.
Thulani Ngwenya, president of Popcru, which represents 160,000 police, prison and traffic officers, said the union rejected the 4.7% wage increase, labelling it insufficient and warned that Popcru was prepared to “mobilise its members to march to Pretoria” to demand an above-inflation increase.
“This salary increment demonstrates government’s arrogance towards the public service. It is not enough to better the lives of the working class and public servants, or even to keep up with rising costs of living. As a result, the feedback we have received on this increase is very negative.
“We did not believe the lie that this was the best deal government could offer as employers, which is why we refused to sign the agreement. And it’s clear now that this has been one of the worst deals for public servants yet…”
He said the 4.7% wage increase is an “insult” to Popcru members struggling to make ends meet, “yet are expected to serve on the front lines of the fight against crime”. “Government has made it clear to workers that you are on your own. To those who told us that it was best to sign the two-year agreement, we warn that now is the time to defend the working class and stand with workers – nothing more, nothing less,” said Ngwenya.
Sapu national spokesperson Lesiba Thobakgale said: “We rejected the wage agreement when it was tabled. It being effected doesn’t mean we are accepting it. The workers were robbed when the government concluded that pay deal.”
Nehawu president Mike Shingange said the wage agreement was a “spit in the face of hardworking public servants”. “With all the high cost of living and unemployment, it will take many years for public servants to catch up losses suffered since 2020.”