Unions and the South African government have announced that, after reaching an agreement, the public sector wage strike has ended. The strike has debilitated public health services in many areas, with patients being left unattended and turned away from facilities as a result.
The largest public-sector union involved in the strike, the National Education and Health Workers Union (Nehawu), has called on its members to return to work, saying that “the strike has registered significant achievements and outcomes.”
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According to News24, neither the government nor the trade unions revealed the terms, which are still being processed. The unions had asked for a 10% raise. Prior to the strike, the government offered a 3% raise plus a R1,000 cash bonus.
In a statement, the Department of Public Service and Administration said:
“The settlement agreement paves the way for the parties to return to the 2023–2024 wage negotiations. As part of managing the return of all parties to the negotiations, a Special Council has been convened for today, 15 March 2023, to receive the submission of residual matters emanating from the 2022/23 wage negotiations.”
Nehawu stated that the government had agreed to adjust the increment for the 2022/23 fiscal year and that residual and substantive issues arising from the 2022/23 wage dispute related to the cost of living allowance would be tabled, positively addressed, and resolved as part of the 2023/24 wage negotiations.
The government also agreed to negotiate a public-sector minimum service level agreement within six months. This would specify the terms and conditions under which essential service workers could strike.
According to the Department of Public Service and Administration, the agreement’s conclusion would ensure a proper balance between adherence to the Constitution’s provision on the right to strike and the mandatory requirements for the designated essential services.
“This is a major step forward arising from the strike as the government has consistently refused to align itself with the requirements emanating from the declaration of essential services by the Essential Services Commission in line with the Labour Relations Act,” it read.
Nehawu expressed satisfaction at having forced the government back to the negotiating table following the unilateral implementation of the wage offer for 2022/23.
It said that the parties had reached an agreement in principle that the government would not use unilateralism again and would instead look into all of the ways that the Public Sector Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) could help solve a dispute.
The PSCBC has already begun negotiations for the 2023/24 wage increase. The striking unions have boycotted the new round of wage talks, which the government has said will now take place.
According to News24, Fedusa-affiliated unions who were at the negotiations said that the government had already raised its offer to 7%.
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Picture: National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union / Facebook