When Shireen Pardesi was elevated to the position of chief negotiator for the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) in 2003, her promotion was met with resentment from colleagues. Pardesi was a woman in male-dominated terrain.
But union sources say her negotiating skills have won her widespread respect. She is now labour’s chief negotiator in the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council, representing eight unions with a joint membership of more than 1,6-million.
‘Coming in as a woman in a man-dominated world was very difficult,†she told the Mail & Guardian this week. ‘One had to persevere beyond that, and work doubly hard in order not to be found wanting in any area.
‘That was one challenge. The second was the resentment of male comrades who felt that they could do things a little better. I think I’ve broken that ground. You know in a comradely culture when you are referred to as ‘the chief’, you are the chief. The respect has been gained.â€
Born in Durban in 1962, Pardesi was involved in politics from an early age. Her parents, now dead, were both anti-apartheid activists.
In 1995, she served as ANC branch chairperson in Pinetown, Durban and Sadtu’s gender convener and negotiator. She became Cosatu’s provincial treasurer in 2000.
A teacher by profession, Pardesi now faces the task of trying to wring a better deal for a million public servants from government.
She commented: ‘I’ve been in every round of negotiations since 1995, but this year’s is the toughest.
‘Over the years it has been government policy to link salaries with inflation, which currently stands at between 4,9% and 5,7%, depending on monthly fluctuations.
‘When you look at the rising cost of living over the years, particularly over the past three years, it is clear how the price of education, food, fuel, transport and accommodation have risen.
‘If you look at all of that, I think our demand for a 12% pay rise is fair. The unions are asking for inflation plus a real increase.â€
Pardesi said the last time public service workers had received a real pay rise was in 1999. ‘Over the years we have gone into the negative digits because there has been no increase in salaries, there has merely been an adjustment.
‘This has resulted in people leaving the public service. Now government is concerned about people in teaching, law and health who would rather go to the private sector where they earn twice their salary.
‘That has affected service delivery. You go to any public service at the moment and if you’re not standing in a queue, something’s wrong. That emanates from the fact that we don’t have infrastructure and enough resources.â€
Pardesi complained that since 1996 most government posts had been frozen, bringing ‘huge savings†to the state. Public servants have been strike-prone since 1994, with a national strike in 1999 and a teachers ‘chalk-down†three years ago.
Pardesi hinted that the unions were ready to go the same route this year. ‘This time round, we are very committed to the negotiations. We say it’s now or never.â€
Public servants and government deadlock
Unions representing a million state employees declared a dispute with government last week — the first step towards legal strike action.
The dispute came five months after the unions submitted their demands to the public service and administrations department.
The key union demands are:
- a 12% across-the-board pay rise;
- reduction of the current 16 pay notches to five, and the de-linking of performance from pay progression;
- the collapsing of pay levels one and two into level three, to narrow the wage gap;
- the filling of all vacant posts;
- a review of medical aid and housing benefits. The unions want the subsidy to be based on a R300 000 bond instead of a R70 000 bond;
- implementation of pay increases on April 1, and a one-year pay deal instead of the current three-year agreement.
Government is offering a 5,3% wage increase, while arguing for a four-year deal. It has rejected all the other union demands.
On the other side
Government’s tough chief negotiator in the public service pay talks, Kenny Govender, ironically cut his teeth as a bargaining representative for the other side.
In 1996, Govender (pictured below) represented the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) as chief negotiator in both the public service bargaining council and the Education Labour Relations Council.
His job was to parley a new salary structure for public servants and the rationalisation of the 1996 redeployment agreement, which provided for redundant teachers to be moved to new jobs.
Himself a teacher in the Eighties, Govender later joined the department of education as an official. In 2002, he joined the public service department’s policy unit and was promoted last year to the rank of deputy director general responsible for the management of compensation.
Govender could not be contacted this week, but Sadtu president Willie Madisha commented: ‘He was and still is one of the country’s best negotiators. He represented Sadtu in the early Nineties in KwaZulu-Natal. Based on his impressive work, we recommended that he come and work for the national office as a full-time employee.†The government stand in the current negotiating round — described by another Cosatu public service union, Nehawu, as ‘an insult to workers†— has set Govender at odds with his former union comrades.
Given the enormous gap between the two sides, he will require all his skills to forge a compromise and avert damaging strike action. — Matuma Letsoalo