The Democratic Alliance (DA) has pledged support for a separate bargaining chamber for health workers proposed by the African National Congress’s (ANC) health committee.
”There is no doubt that nurses and doctors should get a pay boost above the inflation rate, with appropriate incentives to retain their skills at all levels,” DA Gauteng health spokesperson Jack Bloom said in a statement.
The ANC met on Thursday and made the call that the health sector needed a bargaining chamber of its own, and occupation-specific remuneration packages to address peculiar challenges facing public health workers.
”It would be even better if bargaining was decentralised to the hospital level so that flexible scales could match local conditions,” Bloom said.
With the government not budging from its 6% offer made to the union, health workers would form part of the national strike scheduled to start on May 25, leaving patients and the public without essential public services.
The unions are demanding for a 12% increase.
”This is very sensible but a bit late in the day as we face a mass public-sector strike that illustrates the problem of our one-size-fits-all bargaining system,” Bloom added. — Sapa