High salaries paid to legal executives in comparison with low salaries earned by legal staff is a great cause for concern, the Federation of South African Trade Unions (Fedusa) said on Tuesday.
In a statement, Fedusa general secretary Dennis George said the federation supported the strike action contemplated by its affiliate, the South African Parastatal and Tertiary Institutions Union (Saptu).
Saptu is the majority union at the Legal Aid Board (LAB).
He said the legal aid lawyers applied for a strike certificate last week after news that some of the senior executives at the LAB would be receiving exorbitant performance bonuses.
He said some of the bonuses for executives amounted to over 30%, while a ”measly” 8% was still to be paid out to professional lawyers.
”The high bonuses paid to management against the backdrop of the low salaries of professional legal staff is a great cause for concern,” said George.
”Furthermore, Fedusa is disappointed in the feet-dragging by government to implement the occupational specific dispensation (OSD) agreed upon during the 2007 negotiations.”
Of particular concern was that many skilled legal professionals would leave the public service because of government’s failure to address proper human resource management practices.
Saptu general secretary Ben van der Walt said the LAB served a very important purpose in providing free legal assistance to indigent members of society.
”It is totally unacceptable that these people, who have studied for several years to provide a professional service to the people, are being neglected when it comes to fair remuneration,” he said.
George said the federation would most certainly support Saptu and any sister unions in any strike action on the matter.
”We call on the Minister of Justice to take note of these rumblings, and consider them wisely when again postponing the implementation of collectively agreed principles,” said George.
The Legal Aid Board said the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) had declined to issue a strike certificate in favour of Saptu.
”Any strike action by Saptu will thus be unprotected,” the board said in statement.
CEO Vidhu Vedalankar said Saptu was not a majority union within the organisation in that it represented only about 30% of the organisation’s roughly 2 200 employees.
With regards to the implementation of the OSD, the board said the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development had recently extended the dispensation to officials of the Legal Aid Board performing legal functions.
”The Legal Aid Board is the largest employer of legal professionals in South Africa,” she said.
”It prides itself in providing quality legal services to indigent and vulnerable South Africans.”
The board denied that any official received a bonus in excess of 30%. – Sapa