Unions reject government’s zero percent wage increase

PUBLIC servants have rejected the government’s offer not to increase their salaries this year and are threatening to strike as they do not want to be made “scapegoats” for rampant corruption, fraud and mismanagement.

The government finally responded to the trade unions representing public servants’ demands for a consumer price index (CPI), which is projected to be 3.1%, plus 4% pay hike, among other benefits.

In its response, the government offered its employees a “0%” wage increase for the 2021/22 financial year.

The Public Servants Association (PSA), which represents more than 235 000 state employees, reacted angrily to the government’s offer.

“The response was utterly disappointing and an insult to labour as it only responded positively to some issues, which have no direct short-term financial benefit for employees,” the PSA said yesterday.

According to the union, the rest of the substantive demands by unions were also rejected.

“The PSA wants to make it clear that this process may eventually result in widespread industrial action as public servants can no longer pay the price for the country’s economic woes fuelled by rampant fraud, corruption and mismanagement,” the union warned.

The eight unions representing 1.2 million state employees in national and provincial government departments at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) – Nehawu, PSA, Sadtu, Popcru, Denosa, Hospersa, Naptosa and Sapu – rejected the government’s offer as accepting it would be agreeing to a downward variation of public servants’ current benefits.

They told the government to revise its offer to prevent the dispute process being invoked.

The government has until Friday to present a revised offer at the PSCBC.

Public servants also want a special risk allowance of 12% of public servants’ basic salary during national disaster situations such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

They are demanding a R2 500 housing allowance, provision of childcare and breast-feeding facilities in all government departments, boarding school subsidies for their children from grades R to 12 as well as bursaries for their offspring.

Also on their list of demands is immediate action to be taken against prolonged suspensions, which have cost the government R4.5 billion since March 2019, frivolous litigation, mismanagement of funds and corruption and outsourced contracts when such services can be rendered internally.

Public servants want the savings the government made during the Covid-19-enforced national lockdown and working remotely to be redirected to them to ensure that their operating costs of electricity and using their own premises are compensated and that this arrangement be made permanent and a circumstantial allowance to be introduced.

The National Treasury last year ordered national and provincial departments to contribute towards reducing the wage bill.

A Treasury document titled, “guidelines for costing and budgeting for compensation of employees for the preparation of expenditure estimates for the 2021 medium-term expenditure framework”, (said) public servants will not receive increases for the financial years 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24.

Cosatu said it was report on the talks.