The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) on Monday said it is disappointed at the lost opportunity of finding a lasting solution to the educator backlogs issue as a result of the stance taken by Minister of Education Naledi Pandor and Minister of Public Service and Administration Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi.
The two ministers on Wednesday said the dispute declared by the education unions at the level of the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) cannot be seen as a new interest dispute.
Sadtu accused the two ministers of trying to come up with a pretext for not paying the educators what is due to them.
The ministers met with senior government officials to reflect on the dispute declared by Sadtu and the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa.
In a joint statement, the two ministers emphasised that it is a dispute that arose from the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) Resolution 2 of 2004, and has to be treated as such.
The education union alleges that the “new tactic” is to try to get educators to take a reduced settlement — mindful that the festive season is rapidly approaching with all the extra expenses that this entails.
“It is a shoddy tactic which further entrenches the belief that the employer is again acting in bad faith,” Sadtu said in a statement.
With regard to the new dispute that has been declared, Sadtu said it has the right to refer a dispute in the way it deems fit and cannot be instructed by the employer as to the nature of their dispute.
The union argues that the [PSCBC] must schedule the dispute as referred and the employer, like any other party, must argue the nature of the dispute in the conciliation process, but not outside.
“We are fully aware that PSCBC Collective Agreement 2 of 2004 is a multi-year agreement that is equally binding on educators, as for all other public servants. It is, in fact, the very same resolution that directed the ELRC to develop and implement a model that will address the educator backlogs. It is the disagreement on the model that is a source of this dispute.”
Sadtu said it is clear that the employer wants unions to agree to a model that can be funded by the R500-million budgeted, which will lead to some categories of educators having to forgo their notch increases.
“We wish to urge the employer to be serious about the plight of educators and learners alike, and address this matter once and for all if they truly wish to avoid the possibility of industrial action in 2005. The union is available to listen to any genuine effort to find a solution to this matter.” — I-Net Bridge