Public sector unions withdraw from special council meeting

Public sector unions have withdrawn their participation from a special council meeting scheduled by government to take place on Friday, to discuss the next round of wage negotiations.

Unions say they will not allow their negotiators to engage in any wage talks before the dispute over last year’s wage increase is resolved.

The unions have accused government of attempting to engage in a meaningless box-ticking exercise to further justify the 3% wage offer rejected by unions in the lead up to the finance minister’s Budget Speech next week.

Unions are demanding a 10% increment and a R2 500 housing allowance among other things.

Deputy Secretary-General of Nehawu, December Mavuso, says, “There’s no way the employer can convene a council meeting to table an offer without demands from organised labour. The process is we go to members, we collect demands, we consolidate and present demands to the employer. The employer responds to the demands. There are no consolidated demands currently as we are sitting here. We have not discussed with our members [their] demands for 2023. So, it’s unthinkable that which the employer is doing. It’s part of this bigger agenda of eroding these systems of collective bargaining.”

The video below is reporting more on the story:

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