The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) warned on Tuesday it would declare a dispute if police management failed to meet the union to discuss a controversial plan to upgrade salaries and packages.
Popcru spokesperson Pat Ntsobi said the union might consider referring the matter to the Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council if management does not concede that it failed to consult with organised labour regarding the plan.
The plan is a bid to counter the exodus of trained and highly experienced personnel to retain scarce skills in the police service, and focuses on skills retention, recruitment of new members, and training and development to address disparities in the service.
Police management has identified specialised areas and offered R30 000 one-off payments to individuals willing to stay in the service to impart skills to new members, while training and developing those who want to join these specialised areas.
Ntsobi said the union does not totally reject the plan, but rather it is concerned about the lack of consultation to address some of the plan’s shortcomings.
He said the plan is selective as it focuses on specialised units and not all police members who are earning ”peanuts”.
”We believe that this is a matter of collective bargaining. The employer has no right to unilaterally change service conditions without consulting other stakeholders,” Ntsobi said.
South African Police Service spokesperson Selby Bokaba said if the union is eager to meet the management there are proper procedures and channels to be followed. — Sapa