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Cape Town - As the saying goes, the public sector pay and conditions negotiations are all over bar the shouting. With only a few more union branches to report, it seems clear that a three-year deal has been struck.
READ: Public sector: This is best wage deal we could get
However, the situation regarding local government employees is still deadlocked, with a third round of talks scheduled for three days to start on Tuesday next week. The South African Local Government Association (Salga), which represents the country's 278 local governments, has so far refused to concede to any of the three major demands of the unions.
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) want a one-year agreement, an 11% across-the-board pay rise (or R2 000, whichever is greater) and a minimum wage of R7 625. Salga has tabled a three-year deal, a 5.4% wage increase and a minimum wage of R5 925.
Pay increases proposed by Salga for the second and third years of any agreement would be based on the inflation rate (CPI) plus 0.25%. Given the fact that Salga has indicated that there will probably be “no substantive move” on this offer or on the also vexed issue of housing allowances, a further deadlock is possible.
However, there have been several informal talks in recent weeks and both Samwu and Imatu express “cautious optimism” about the coming negotiations. “But there is no way our members would accept what is presently on offer,” a Samwu official confirmed.
