Wage negotiations in the public sector have deadlocked with unions opting for individual dispute resolution processes. The Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) this week said it was inundated with enquiries from the media, public servants and the public at large on the public service wage negotiations as well as the impending strike action of the Public Servants Association (PSA). “The wage negotiations have deadlocked and parties opted to follow individual dispute resolution procedures to attempt to unlock the impasse. This has, unfortunately, been unsuccessful as parties could not find one another,” PSCBC General Secretary Frikkie De Bruin said in a statement. He said they have received a strike notice from the Public Servants Association (PSA). The union wants a 6.5% increase but the government is not prepared to go over 3%. PSA spokesperson, Claude Naicker, said that accepting the government’s lower offer would set a dangerous precedent.
“There’s no use negotiating. This will set the tone for future negotiations in the public sector as well as the rest of the country but as I said, we are in full-blown mode,” Naicker said. The PSA commenced with workplace picketing as per the picketing rules issued that will culminate into a one-day strike action planned for the 10th of November 2022. “The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU), The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU), Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA), Health and Other Service Personnel Trade Union of South Africa (HOSPERSA) and the South African Policing Union (SAPU) has all been afforded certificates of non-resolution. With picketing rules also being issued to NEHAWU, POPCRU, DENOSA and HOSPERSA. SAPU will have a hearing early next week to finalise their picketing rules,” he said. The trade unions will have the right to issue a 7-day notice to the Council to commence with strike action when and if they decide to do the same. The PSCBC said it remained optimistic and was engaging with the parties encouraging them to revert to the facilitation process to attempt to seek a resolution to the impasse. “The solution can only be found through social dialogue,” De Bruin said.