Thursday’s public sector strike could cost the economy between R200-million and R1-billion the chief economist of the Efficient Group, Dawie Roodt, said on Monday.
”The country’s economy generates about R4-billion a day. The state comprises about a quarter of that. The public servants, however, are not exactly wealth producers, more like facilitators and so this should lessen the negative impact,” said Roodt.
He said that while a day’s strike would be relatively costly, its greatest impact would be the negative affect it would eventually have on the private sector — the real wealth generator.
The joint mandating committee of the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) met in Centurion on Monday to receive reports from the nine provinces.
”We are seeing how far the logistics for Thursday’s strike have been organised and what still needs to be done,” said National Education and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) spokesperson Moloantoa Molaba.
He said the protest was expected to cost the unions more than R2-million as buses had to be hired, posters made and advertisements placed.
He said the unions were also holding talks with the state on whether ”essential service” workers such as police, health workers and Home Affairs officials would strike.
Anton Louwrens, general manager of the Public Servants Association (PSA), said negotiations for a ”minimum service agreement” had started on Sunday with the Department of Home Affairs.
”We want minimum staff requirements instituted at places like ports of entry, allowing the rest to strike. The same will be negotiated for hospitals and prisons,” he said.
He said there would be another meeting on Tuesday to finalise such agreements.
Meanwhile, with unions threatening to extend Thursday’s protest into ”rolling mass action”, the Education Department has started drawing up contingency plans.
Maud Dlomo, the department’s chief director of human resources said: ”The matrics start writing exams towards the end of October and we want to make sure they won’t be negatively affected if teachers are still on strike.”
The Treatment Action Campaign and the Aids Law Project called for the strike to be averted.
”We call on government to avert a public sector strike by meeting the wage and service demands of the public sector unions.
”We also call on the unions to engage government on the need for a comprehensive plan to rebuild the quality of public services,” they said.
The groups said they accepted that on the face of it, government’s offer of a six percent salary adjustment for all public servants might appear ”reasonable” as it was above CPIX (the consumer price index minus mortgage costs).
”So might the one percent pay progression, the R500-million for educators to compensate for the lack of increases, the housing allowance, the commitment to a comprehensive medical aid scheme for all public servants and the payment of a scarce skills allowance. But on close inspection the proposed package is insufficient.”
The groups said the package did not recognise the impact of years of systematic under-funding of the public sector.
”If government imposes this pay deal on the public sector it will delay improvement and make a mockery of government’s people-centred public service campaign, Batho Pele.”
They said bad conditions of employment led to bad service. Poor working conditions caused doctors and nurses to go to the private sector or leave the country. – Sapa