The government is not succumbing to pressure from aggrieved public service workers who went on strike on Thursday demanding a wage increase of between 6.5% and 10%.
The protest comes after wage talks in the public service coordinating bargaining council (PSCBC) collapsed in October, with the government saying it can only afford to increase wages by 3%.
Modise Letsatsi, director of labor relations at the PSCBC, said: “Remember this membership is spread across public service and they work side by side, others are public servants who will not be on strike, but all we are saying is that there won’t be a shutdown of public services, and the public should feel free to go on with their business as normal.”
The strike, which took place in Pretoria and Durban, is the first major industrial action in the public service since 2010, and is backed by the Federation of Unions of South Africa, the Public Servants Association of South Africa (PSA), and the Health and Other Personnel Trade Unions of South Africa.
The majority union PSA, which represents about 240 000 public servants, said in a statement on Thursday that it will hand over a memorandum of grievances to the National Treasury in Pretoria, noting that the striking unions are willing to go back to the negotiating table.
It added that it will intensify efforts to protect public servants’ rights and grievances, stating that should the government fail to meet its demands within seven days, it will prolong the industrial action.
The PSA also called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to allow bargaining councils to determine and agree on salaries and other terms and conditions of employment for public servants.
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