Johannesburg - A wage agreement for municipal workers is not on the cards anytime soon following the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) rejecting the latest offer from the SA Local Government Association (Salga).
Samwu said on Wednesday that Salga upping its offer to 5.4% from 4.4% was “ridiculous” as it was way below want the union wanted.
Samwu wants an 11% pay rise after initially demanding 15%.
“Undoubtedly Salga is a horrible employer, an employer that does not value or appreciate its employees. Municipal workers are starving while Salga bosses continue to be highly overpaid, its principals have just recently received an increase of over R60 000 an amount which is more than the annual salary of municipal workers,” said Samwu spokesman Papike Mohale.
The union wants a single-year agreement, while Salga is negotiating on a three-year wage deal.
The employer is also proposing a minimum wage in the sector of R5925, which Samwu believes is too low.
The union also wants the housing allowance to be extended to all employees.
“Salga cannot also justify the highly inflated annual salary of R3.8 million that its CEO Xolile George receives, a salary which he clearly does not deserve given the fact that Salga principals have failed to stabilise the country’s municipalities,” said Mohale.
Following the completion of the second round of negotiations last week, Salga said in its defence that it was approaching the talks in a “transparent, consistent and honest manner with the interest of municipalities and communities in our minds”.
It said it believed it had made progress in the talks as there was consensus that more time was needed to discuss the housing allowance, and a significant amount of time was spent on incorporating a service charter into the discussions.
“Salga tabled a proposal for a service charter for the sector and proposed that this be concluded during the current round of negotiations, so that parties express their commitment to improving service delivery to the benefit of all citizens of South Africa, improve good governance and fight corruption,” the association, which represent 278 municipalities.
The third round of negotiations are on May 18 and 19.
Labour Bureau