Municipal strike looms over R356 only pay hike offer

THE SA Municipal Workers Union has urged its members to prepare themselves for an upcoming war with its employers following a breakdown in negotiations over wage increases.

Samwu and the SA Local Government Association (Salga) have been in protracted wage negotiations which resulted in the appointment of a facilitator to oversee the process which was marred by serious disputes.

Now, it appears these negotiations are due to stall again after the facilitator tabled a R356 salary increase for workers.

Samwu deputy secretary Dumisane Magagula said they received the offer on June 7. The purpose of the facilitator’s proposal is to, if agreed by all parties (Samwu, Imatu and Salga) form the basis of a salary and wage agreement for the sector, he said.

“As Samwu, we are of the view that the facilitator’s proposal is biased towards Salga as the employer. The facilitator has neglected all of the issues put forward by workers. In fact, the facilitator’s proposal is a repetition of the employer’s arguments and offer throughout these negotiations.”

Magagula said the facilitator has proposed that the parties agree to:

s ! THREE YEAR SALARY AND WAGE agreement.

s ! SALARY INCREASE IN THE FIRST year of the agreement and projected CPI minus 1% in the outer years of the agreement.

s ! TOTAL FREEZE ON ALL BENEFITS TO municipal workers in the first year of the agreement, only fully unfrozen in the last year of the agreement.

s 3ECTORAL MINIMUM WAGE TO ONLY increase in line with salary increases.

s $EFERMENT OF THE EMPLOYABILITY of EPWP, CWP and the demands for maternity and paternity leave to other processes.

-AGAGULA SAID THE PROPOSED salary increase was a direct spit in the face of municipal workers. This proposed increase meant the least paid municipal workers would receive a salary increase of R356 before taxation.

“It should be noted that food inflation is above 10% while other items in the cost of living have also significantly gone up, leaving municipal workers unable to makeends meet.

H7ORKERS HAD DEMANDED A 2 salary increase across the board to ensure that the wage gap in the sector is narrowed and that workers receive decent increases.

“Yet again, the facilitator neglected the genuine demands of workers and continued doing the bidding for the employer and proposed a below inflation salary increase,” Magagula said.

It was the first time that a facilitator proposed a salary increase that was linked to inflation but subtracting a percentage from the CPI as she has proposed in the two outer years of her proposal, he said.

According to Magagula, it was yet another attempt of repeating and doing the employer’s bidding, saying the facilitator has proposed that all benefits that municipal workers receive should be frozen, including benefits that were negotiated at divisional and local levels.

“For us this is an attack on collective bargaining and reversing the gains that have been made through the years.

“The freezing of benefits is one item that has always been rejected by our members.

“Samwu had demanded that the sectoral minimum wage be R15 000. According to research, this is the amount that one would need to live a decent life in South Africa.

“A majority of municipal workers are currently earning below R15 000 and as such they are unable to live a decent life,” he said.

Magagula said the facilitator has also neglected the issue of a housing allowance for all municipal workers.

The category of workers would have greatly benefited from this demand, he said, as they were currently battling with getting decent housing from both the government and financial institutions.

Samwu has until June 22 to respond to the facilitator’s proposals but has already called on its members to resist the latest offer.