Bloomberg reports that the SA government has increased its pay offer to public sector employees from 5% to 5.5%, as it seeks to end wage talks that began in September.
The latest offer presented at a special bargaining council meeting Monday, was “very progressive,” commented Claude Naicker of the Public Servants Association (PSA), which represents more than 245,000 workers. The increase is “their final offer; meaning that they will append their signature to the draft agreement, and what it effectively means, is that it gives the unions 21 days to either accept the agreement or not,” said Naicker. Although the offer is a climb-down from workers’ opening demand of 12% for the fiscal year that begins on 1 April, it is significantly higher than SA’s 2.9% inflation rate and the SA Reserve Bank’s 4.5% target for anchoring price expectations. The government wants to link public sector pay increases to the consumer price index for the two years after 2025-26. The draft agreement allows increases to be set at 4% should inflation fall below that level in the outer years, or 6% if consumer prices exceed that rate. Naicker commented further: “Hopefully the other unions sign. The employer is not going to go any higher than this. “We think under the circumstances it’s a reasonable offer, coupled with the other things like the housing allowance.”
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ntando Thukwana at Moneyweb