Municipal workers demand 15% wage rise

SA’s municipal workers have tabled a 15% across-the-board wage demand to local government, saying yesterday they would also seek a one-year wage deal and a R9,620 minimum wage from municipalities represented by the South African Local Government Association (Salga).

A wage agreement covering 230,000 municipal workers in 278 municipalities expires in July this year. The three-timesinflation wage demand of the two largest local government unions is the same as the opening demand from 16 public-sector unions that began bargaining last year.

The 1.3-million public servants negotiating with the state at provincial and national level have rejected the state's offer of inflation-linked increases, and have not yet revised their demand — which is also 15%.

The South African Municipal Workers Union’s (Samwu’s) 130,000 members and Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union’s (Imatu’s) 73,000 members are coordinating wage demands that include a housing allowance demand of R1,800.

The unions said yesterday the demands were “justifiable” and poor economic conditions over the past three years had brought a period of “wage restraint”.

A deal in 2012 was reached without a strike, with parties agreeing to an increase of 6.5%, followed by inflation-linked increases in 2013 and 2014. The agreement pushed the minimum wage in the sector up to R5,620 a month from July last year.

Samwu said yesterday its demands were the minimum that members were entitled to. Salga had not yet tabled its opening wage offer. This could be made next week, when bargaining began, Samwu national spokesman Papikie Mohale said yesterday.

Imatu said yesterday that members had undergone a period of wage restraint since 2011. Members had faced above-inflation increases in transport, food and electricity costs and “bracket creep” as tax thresholds were lifted.

“This demand will be met with cries of unaffordability and calls to take stock of our economic climate,” Imatu deputy general secretary Craig Adams said.

However, Imatu believed that the increases needed to reflect the cost of living for its members.

This demand will be met with cries of unaffordability …