Wage agreement not a done deal

Pretoria - The wage agreement between the department of public service and unions representing public servants has not been signed yet, Public Service Minister Richard Baloyi said on Thursday.

"The pen was ready, the ink was ready, the papers were ready and in my mind I was ready," Baloyi told journalists at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

He said government was ready to sign the agreement, but the unions asked to postpone signing the agreement to Thursday.

"The PSCBC (Public Sector Co-ordinated Bargaining Council) are currently sitting, as we are having this discussion, busy translating our revised offer," he said.

He said when he said last week that the "pen will drop" on Wednesday, he referred to Wednesday this week.

The government's revised offer comprised of a revised salary increment from 6.5% to 7%, a housing allowance that stayed at R630, which translated to 0.5% and a fixed pay progression of 1.5%.

"This amounts to a total average contribution of 9% for public servants at salary level 1 to 12," said Baloyi.

The government was still waiting for the PSCBC to respond on the revised offer early on Thursday afternoon.

Baloyi called on unions to seriously consider signing the agreement.

"We call on trade unions to accept this offer because failure to do so will compromise us even further. Our doors are open … but we need a bridge to get there," he said.

"We are mindful that strikes are looming. Therefore we are making a call for unions, workers and South Africans to try and avert the strike. We are not blaming the unions, but a reality is a reality," he said.

Baloyi said several issues needed to be addressed, which included a review of the remuneration policy, the synchronisation of salary negotiations with the budget cycle and for the implementation month for salary settlements to return to April.

He said the current salary increments for public servants were not sustaibable as it was above what government could afford and above inflation. It also further stretched the Wage Bill to what he called a "heavy impact" of the settlement of the Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD) and last year's settlement.

"The public service salary dispensation is not out of competitiveness," he said.

Teachers received an annual pay progression of 1%, nurses and social workers received a 3% pay progression over two years, in terms of their OSDs (average of 1.5% per year) and police officers received a 4% pay progression every third year (1.3% on an annual basis).

"What we have offered is above inflation and above what we have budgeted for."

  - Sapa