The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is headed for a public-sector strike after conciliation talks with the government failed in the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC).
The trade-union federation told journalists at a press briefing on Monday it would meet other unions in the PSCBC later on Monday afternoon to form a united front against the Department of Public Service and Administration, the government’s representative in the council.
“It is clear that despite all efforts from the side of labour to find common ground, negotiations have reached a dead end,” Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) general secretary Thembeka Gwagwa said, reading from a prepared statement.
Gwagwa said the Cosatu unions in the chamber will:
- Form joint campaigning structures;
- Hold joint mass meetings with their 700 000 members to report back on the failed negotiations and obtain a new mandate;
- Meet the chamber’s non-Cosatu unions to form a common front;
- Embark on rolling mass action consisting of pickets, demonstrations and marches to target provincial ministers, premiers, government departments and Parliament; and
- Withdraw Cosatu’s unions from all employer-employee structures except for collective bargaining institutions.
“It will be impossible for unions to participate in the forthcoming Conference on Public Service Delivery [scheduled for November] in the absence of an agreement on salaries and conditions,” Gwagwa said.
The unions will also organise strike action at national and provincial level “in the case that the employer still refuses to negotiate in good faith with the unions”, Gwagwa said.
The Cosatu public-sector unions are Denosa; the National Educational, Health and Allied Workers Union; the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu); the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union; the South African Democratic Nursing Union; the South African Medical Association; and the South African State and Allied Workers Union.
Another 300 000 of the country’s 1,1-million civil servants are represented by the Public Servants’ Association, the South African Police Union, the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa and the Health and Other Service Personnel Trade Union of South Africa.
Together they are demanding a revised salary and wage increase of 8,5% against a government offer of 5,5%, equity in the distribution of benefits such as housing and medical aid, an end to the erosion of benefits, and greater commitment from the government to genuine bargaining.
This is, in part, stymied by government’s Medium-Term Expenditure Framework that allocates funds for civil service pay increases up to three years in advance, meaning that “budget informs negotiations” instead of the other way around, Sadtu general secretary Thulas Nxesi said.
Nxesi added that the consulting phase of the programme is likely to last two weeks.
He was hesitant to put a date to any strike, saying that seven days’ notice will first have to be given.
“Time frames are very difficult, we still need to consult the non-Cosatu unions … We want to move in unison with the other public-sector unions,” Nxesi added.
He also emphasised that labour remains open to an amicable solution and that unions are willing to sit down with government negotiators on a bilateral basis — “but there will be no separate deals”. — Sapa