Johannesburg - The national office-bearers of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) resumed conciliatory talks with the national leadership of Salga over wage increases on Thursday.
The negotiations, over a proposed wage increase and housing allowance increase for Samwu members, form part of the Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) which takes place from the 1st to 3rd July.
“Samwu is happy that the national leadership of Salga has heard our call that these negotiations would only be completed if they are present,” said Samwu spokesman Papikie Mohale.
“We trust that Salga national leadership will now take charge of the talks as we seek to ensure that our members receive increases that have real gains for them.”
Samwu was seeking an 11-percent wage increase, down from the 16 percent originally sought. Salga has, in turn, revised their numbers from an original 4.5-percent increase to 5.9 percent. After three rounds of fruitless negotiations, the current collective agreement between Samwu and Salga is at risk of collapsing.
“At this moment, we are preparing for conciliation,” said Salga spokesperson Tahir Sema.
“We are still willing and available to negotiate and are fully committed to breaking the deadlock. However, we have canvassed with municipalities around the country and simply cannot afford the double-digit demands currently on the table. This would require a reduction in service delivery and we simply cannot do this,” said Sema.
If the deadlock is not resolved in Thursday’s repeated attempt at conciliation, a Certificate of Non-Resolution will be signed by both sides and a nationwide strike undertaken by the union.
“We remain resolute, unshaken and unapologetic,” said Mohale.
“If Salga wants to conclude these negotiations on the streets, they should know that the ground is fertile, our members are ready and we shall meet Salga on the street to defend and champion our members’ interests.”
ANA