Public service wage strike over as govt, unions reach agreement
The National Education Health & Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) has announced that it has reached a settlement with government to end a 10-day strike.
This follows a meeting with the Department of Public Service and Administration at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) on Tuesday.
The agreement paves the way for the unions to return to the negotiating table for the 2023/2024 wage talks.
Unions including POPCRU, DENOSA, and Nehawu had demanded a 10% increase, while government was offering a 3% increase plus an R1 000 cash gratuity.
"In this regard, an agreement was concluded on the augmentation of 2022/2023 increment in the Settlement Agreement. The employer has agreed that residual and substantive matters emanating from 2022/2023 wage dispute related to COLA, shall be tabled and positively dealt with and concluded as part of 2023/2024 wage negotiations," said Nehawu on Wednesday.
"As part of reversing unilateralism, a principal agreement was concluded that government would not resort to unilateralism in the event of a dispute but would explore and exhaust available dispute resolution mechanism within the council processes."
"To this effect, a PSCBC Special Council on wage negotiations is convened today to process the settlement agreement together with salary adjustment for the financial year 2023/24. Inherently in our culture, we will keep our members informed on the developments,” they added.
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