It would appear that strike season is (still) upon us. Strike season is something that news and business journalists mark in their calendars every year so they know to be on the look out for when workers will down tools for higher wages.
It usually kicks off in the mining sector around May every two years, but also affect construction and metal working.
Lately, its been a constant factor in the public service, with Pikitup perhaps the best known example. The latest wave of dustbins being downed - literally - seems to have dragged on for months, and only came to an end about three weeks ago.
Joburg residents lived with the stench of rubbish in their noses for weeks on end as trash was not only not picked up, but also strewn around the inner city streets for weeks on end as workers went on one rampage after another.
Leaving out the contentious issue of the workers demanding MD Amanda Nair’s dismissal, another issue was salaries.
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Workers wanted their salaries adjusted to between R8 000 and R10 000 a month, to be on par with other workers in similar jobs.
An agreement was finally reached on April 11, with just a few issues remaining to be sorted out, and staff received a one-time payment of R750 to all Grade A and B workers.
How much these workers are actually earning now is anyone’s guess. I scratched around and couldn’t find a report where someone had disclosed the final agreement.
As an aside, it would be nice if trash in my area could be collected more than once a month.
Miners have also been downing picks, with Amcu leading the charge for a R12 500 monthly wage.
The latest pending strike is at the South African Post Office.
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Workers there claim they haven’t had a salary increase for two years, so whatever they were earning will have been whittled away by inflation, which hit 7 percent earlier this year before declining to 6.3 percent last month.
This strike comes at a time when the post office is under increasing pressure after it reported a R1.5 billion loss. Its CEO, recently-appointed Mark Barnes who is trying to turn the behind-the-times entity around, has reportedly warned that the utility cannot take the pain of yet another strike.
I’ve lost count of how many times post office staff have downed stamps, and the standing joke is that none of us even notice anymore.
What’s fair?
The question increasingly seems to be, just how much is fair?
According to Trading Economics, the average salary in January this year was R17 517, while BankservAfrica Disposable Salaries Index (BDSI) puts the average monthly take-home pay at R12 501. That sounds about consistent with Trading Economics, if you assume an average tax rate of 28 percent.
However, this - given the wage demands - seems skewed towards the top 2 percent, which will earn much more and boost the average, and will not show the true situation of just how little the workers at the coal face are paid.
The top earners in this country are undoubtedly CEOs.
Africa Check - a body that checks statements of fact against actual fact - notes an analysis of South African listed companies over five years found that the gap between CEO total compensation and average employee compensation increased from just under 120 times in 2009 to over 140 times in 2013.
Wowzer.
That means that the big boss pulls in 140 times what an ‘average’ staff member does.
A recent headline-grabbing case in point is MTN’s former CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa, who was paid R23.7 million after he quit over a record $3.9 billion fine levied by Nigerian regulators.
That mammoth payout was his apparent “loss of office”. Who writes contracts that allow CEOs to walk away with a bonus, or a golden handshake after they either quit or are pushed after an extended period of gardening leave?
As a matter of interest, Dabengwa earned a total of R40.6 million last year when his goodbye cheque is taken into account.
To put that into perspective, President Jacob Zuma is getting paid R2.87 million, although South Africa has a quarter of the ‘subscribers’ - if we can call citizens that - when compared to MTN.
The arguments for giving bosses heavy salaries are about as endless as those against that practice, and I’m not going to get into that debate here.
The simple fact is, South Africa is a country of inequalities, and salaries seem to be the most pain-laden issue. Until we get that right, trash won’t be picked up, post won’t be delivered and power cables won’t be made.
In this tough economic climate, I suggest that CEOs forgo salary increases and bonuses, and instead spread the largesse to workers. It may not amount to much of a bonus per employee, but the gesture will be appreciated.
And happy staff are more productive. And that’s one thing we really need if we are to dig ourselves out of the current economic hole.
* Nicola Mawson is the online editor of Business Report. Follow her on Twitter @NicolaMawson or Business Report @busrep.
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