Strike looms as public service wage talks falter

Unless a wage increase agreement is reached through mediation, a crippling public service strike is imminent as Cosatu unions have declared a stalemate.

Cosatu public service unions, which seemed to have upped a gear in negotiating a better deal for their members, would not rule out the possibility of strike action if no agreement is reached at the end of processes due after a declaration of an impasse.

The unions said yesterday that they were not going to accept anything less than an increase linked to the inflation rate after what they said was the reneging by the government on its “latest offer of 6.9 percent” at a meeting on Tuesday.

The unions lashed out at the government, as the employer, accusing it of “negotiating in bad faith” and “not interested in settling this current round of negotiations amicably”.

At a media briefing in Joburg, they said the government was “arrogant, misleading, dishonest, deceitful and is taking workers for granted”.

This followed what the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) described as “confusion” over what was on offer on Tuesday.

According to PSCBC, the 6.9 percent offer was not a formal offer but a proposed offer which unions were asked to take to their members to test if it would be acceptable, while the formal offer was 6.7 percent.

“There was confusion, with the unions saying the 6.9 percent was never a proposal but an offer, which led to Cosatu announcing a deadlock,” said PSCBC secretary Frikkie du Bruin.

The Independent Labour Caucus (ILC), representing the independent unions, said it understood that the 6.9 percent and multi-term wage agreement was a proposed offer.

“There was an attempt by labour to convince the state to put it in writing as a formal offer, but in the end the formal offer remained at 6.7 percent while we tested the proposed 6.9 percent on our members. We have noted comments by the ministry that we were close to signing an agreement, which was a wrong impression created while we were actually still consulting with our members,” said ILC spokesman Chris Klopper.

He said early indications were that “at least 50 percent” of ILC members were happy with the proposed offer.

The wage negotiations started in February with the employer’s offer of an increase on the basic wage of 4 percent.

Cosatu unions wanted 7.9 percent and ILC unions 7.5 percent.

There are also disagreements over extras like housing allowances. The government is still offering an increase of R100 – to raise it to R900 – while unions want a R1 400 allowance.