This includes back pay to the date the lecturers achieved applicable qualifications for a raise
Five Ingwe TVET College lecturers are to receive salary adjustments and back pay after a three-year battle. File picture: (123RF/marwphoto)
Five lecturers at Ingwe TVET College in the Eastern Cape are to receive salary adjustments and back pay after a three-year battle with the department of higher education.
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) said it had secured the notch adjustment after the lecturers were left waiting despite obtaining qualifications that entitled them to higher salaries.
The union said the lecturers were employed at the college at REQV 13 level but obtained the necessary qualifications between 2019 and 2020 to qualify for REQV 14, including the applicable cash bonuses.
In 2024, Sadtu approached the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC), asking it to determine whether the department had committed an unfair labour practice by failing to adjust the lecturers’ salary notches after they submitted their qualifications between 2019 and 2022.
During arbitration proceedings, the department conceded that the lecturers qualified for the salary adjustment because they had obtained the required qualifications.
The ELRC then ordered the department to adjust the salary notches and pay the money owed to them. The adjustments were to be backdated to the dates the lecturers obtained their qualifications, while one lecturer’s adjustment was to start from the date of employment.
But the matter did not end there.
Sadtu said the department failed to comply with the arbitration award, forcing the union to take the matter to the labour court.
On July 24, the court ordered the department to appear virtually on August 28 to show why it should not be found guilty of contempt for failing to comply with the ELRC award. While waiting for the labour court proceedings, the lecturers received supplementary payslips confirming that their salary notches would be adjusted.
For Sadtu general secretary Mugwena Maluleke, the development was a victory for the union and the educators it represents.
“The defence of educator rights and the advancement of learner rights are inseparable tasks of a teachers’ union,” said Maluleke.
Sadtu remained committed to building a strong union in the TVET sector and challenging policies and management practices it viewed as undemocratic and anti-worker.
The union said it welcomed the resolution and would continue working to ensure its members received the salaries, benefits and working conditions to which they were entitled.