Teachers want their pensions now

PETITION TO GO TO PRESIDENT

THE National Teachers Union intends handing a petition of at least 100 000 signatories to the Presidency and the ministers of finance and public service to have them consider allowing cash-strapped teachers access to a portion of their pensions.

This was the only way to stem the tide of teachers taking early retirement, Natu deputy president Allen Thompson said at a press conference in Durban yesterday.

He said the petitions had been distributed to schools, police stations and hospitals.

The country, and KwaZulu-Natal, had seen an unusually high number of these premature resignations and retirements last year, Thompson said, pegging the numbers at 14 302 nationally and about 5 000 in this province.

A rumour last year that teachers would no longer have access to part of their pensions saw many panic and leave the profession.

“The fact of the matter is that the majority of public service employees are experiencing severe and sustained financial difficulties, mainly due to a treacherous downturn and shrinkage of both the domestic and global economies.

“The financial burden experienced by the majority of public service employees is having severe negative consequences on their health as well as job performance.”

Thompson said Natu would hand the petition to the office of President Jacob Zuma, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene and Public Service and Administration Minister Ngoako Ramathlodi.

Thompson also said yesterday that Natu’s attorneys were to challenge the government on the subsidies it paid to teachers who were not on the government medical aid scheme.

Teachers belonging to the government employees’ medical scheme were subsidised at a rate three times higher than teachers who were not, Thompson said, calling it “unlawful”.

The union’s attorney, Bruce Macgregor, of Macgregor Erasmus Attorneys, said a dispute had already been lodged with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration against the Public Service and Administration Department. The matter would be heard in Pretoria in three weeks’ time.

Turning to Grade R, Natu said that thousands of Grade R practitioners in KZN remained underpaid and were threatening to strike.

The KZN Education Department distinguishes between Grade R practitioners (unqualified, who earn a stipend of R5 500) and Grade R teachers (qualified).

Thompson said most of KZN’s 5 200 Grade R teachers were, in fact, qualified to do the job, but that the provincial department refused to recognise their qualifications.

In other parts of the country, Grade R practitioners were earning R7 000 a month, and KZN was yet to increase the stipend of those employees.

KZN spokesman Muzi Mahlambi said the discussions on stipend increases were still under way, but that three years ago Grade R practitioners were earning only R2 500 a month.