The first port of call for South Africa’s beleaguered employees is the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). But where do those who work for the CCMA turn?
According to a statement issued to the media on Wednesday, the Commission Staff Association (CSA) is preparing to ballot its membership on whether to strike, following a deadlock in salary negotiations.
Thulani Dube, the president of the CSA, told the Mail & Guardian Online on Wednesday that staff originally wanted a 12% salary increase, a minimum entry-level salary for new employees and a 13th cheque.
“We’ve moved [however] from 12% to a 6% increment,” he said.
CCMA management has only offered a 5% increase in salary and refused the other requests made by the staff association, according to Dube.
Early on Wednesday, negotiations between the CCMA management and the CSA deadlocked.
Dube said: “My view is that the management has not been communicating with us in good faith. It’s clear that when management went into the meetings, they already had a plan to deal with a strike.”
He believes “charity begins at home” and that the relationship between staff and management is “not what one would expect” from a company that fights for the rights of workers.
“We are of the view that they [management] are not keeping with the image of the [company].”
Negotiations began two to three years ago about a remuneration policy and an employee grading policy in the CCMA.
“Management has been unwilling to move [their position] … We’ve deadlocked because management doesn’t want to move the staff to the medium composition ratio [entry-level salary]. Management is refusing to offer the 13th cheque [as well],” said Dube.
CCMA spokesperson Lusanda Myoli said the salary negotiations with the CSA are at a “delicate stage” and the commission declines to comment further on the matter at this stage.
Thamsanqa Nkambule, the chairperson of the Johannesburg CSA told the M&G Online that management has already implemented “contingency plans around the strike” and that all current cases will “be on standstill” if it proceeds.
The CSA statement said: “We will also be looking at requesting both the part-time commissioners and interpreters to join the union on [a] secondary strike.”