Things seem to be calming down a bit within the education sector, following the recent signing of an agreement on the annual general salary increase for teachers.
The deal was signed under the auspices of the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Chamber (PSCBC), a forum that handles labour related matters for all public service employees. This differs from the Education Labour Relations Council (Elrc), which deals specifically with labour issues related to the education sector. For instance, the Elrc dealt with negotiations around the Occupational Specific Dispensation (OSD) for teachers.
Meanwhile, the new deal entails the annual general salary adjustment being paid retrospectively to July 1, 2009 and implemented on a “sliding” scale between 13% and 10% for the 2009/10 financial year.
The sliding scale would be implemented on the basis of salary bands and this would take into consideration the revised Occupation Specific Salary structures equivalent to salary levels 1 to 12+ (employees on level 13 and above as part of OSD implementation).
Negotiations for salary increases for 2010/11 would commence on September 30 this year and it is hoped this would be finalized by the end of next month.
A tabular representation of the sliding scales indicates that teachers on salary levels one to three would receive 13%, levels four to six would get 12%, seven and eight will both receive 11%, nine and ten would get 10.5% while eleven to 12+ would get 10%.
The annual general salary adjustment was endorsed by all key teacher unions unlike in the case of the OSD, where only the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) signed while both while National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) and Suid Afrikaanse Onderwys-unie (Saou), are yet to do so.
In its reaction PSCBC described the signing as a “watershed and landmark achievement” in the organisation’s history. It said the commitment of the parties to “constructive engagement” and “continuous dialogue” helped parties to reach speedy agreement.
Sadtu said it is pleased the deal was signed without having to resort to strike action. It praised the newly formed Department of Basic Education for negotiating in good faith and thereby helping restore confidence in the collective bargaining process.