Publications
Partners
Pretoria - Unions representing 1.3 million government workers have threatened to strike within two weeks - but any stoppage was unlikely to disrupt the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which ends on Sunday.
A number of groups have threatened industrial action during the soccer tournament and any disruption would embarrass President Jacob Zuma and his government.
But the unions representing workers including nurses, police officers, teachers, immigration staff and other government officials said on Monday they may take two weeks to mobilise members and still hoped for a resolution.
"We are left with no other option but to consider the most severe option to us, which is strike action," said John Malukele, chief negotiator for trade federation Cosatu.
Labour unions have used the World Cup to bargain for higher wages, which analysts warn could in the long run harm the country's ability to attract investment and create jobs as it recovers from its first recession in 17 years.
"The long-term negative will be on higher inflation; salary costs will have to absorbed and will be given to the consumer at some stage," said KADD Capital economist Elize Kruger .
Fourteen unions affiliated with Cosatu and Independent Labour Caucus were seeking wage increases of 8.5%, about double the inflation rate, and a doubling of housing allowances to R1 000 a month.
The unions said the workers turned down a 6.5% wage rise offered by the government.
At the weekend unionised workers at state-owned power utility Eskom agreed a deal to raise wages by 9% and won a R1 500 per month housing allowance, averting a strike that could have cut power during the sports spectacle..
Union leaders said they will push members to accept the deal formally later this week.
"We believe they should be able to accept it because you can't get any better offer than that and this should be done probably by Wednesday or Thursday," said National Union of Mineworkers (Num) spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka.
Impact of Eskom strike
Dave Mohr, analyst at Citadel, said the wage increase could hurt plans to expand Eskom's power infrastructure and would raise its overall costs, despite being granted an average 25% tariff rise for the next three years.
"Dishing out that kind of wage increase reduces the capacity of Eskom to use the 25% increase to fund the new investments," Mohr said.
Carmen Altenkirch, analyst at Nedbank, said the wage deals by Eskom and other public enterprises - including logistics group Transnet - could thump South Africa's recovery from the recession.
"It could also result in rising inflation, if productivity does not increase. This would exert upward pressure on interest rates and have negative implications for long-term growth," Altenkirch said.
Separately, hundreds of workers at Shanduka Coal's mining operations in South Africa on Monday downed tools demanding that the company centralise its bargaining, the Num said.
- Reuters
