Union wants 15% pay hike

WAGE negotiations with unions representing workers in all municipalities across the country have begun.

The SA Local Government Association (Salga) is negotiating on behalf of all municipalities at the SA Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC).

“The negotiations which are under way at the SALGBC are as a result of the main collective agreement signed in 2015 coming to an end in June,” the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) said yesterday.

Trade unions have submitted joint opening demands to the employer body which are: ý A single year agreement; ý An across the board 15% salary increase or R3 155‚ whichever is greater;

ý R2 000 housing allowance for all employees;

ý R10 000 minimum wage for all municipal workers;

ý All benefits and conditions of service linked to salaries to increase by the same percentage as the acrossthe-board salary increase.

“The demands presented are a response to the situation which municipal workers find themselves in,” Samwu said.

“We are convinced that municipal workers should be better remunerated so that they can keep up with the rising cost of living.

“We will therefore fight hard to ensure that municipal workers get increases which would enable them to live a better life than at present, particularly given the fact that they are the lowest paid government employees.”