Cape Town – The SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) said it was confident the Labour Appeal Court would rule in its favour in an upcoming legal battle over wage increases between the Public Servants Association of SA, Cosatu-affiliated unions, and the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA).
This comes after Sadtu said the government could not afford to honour the final year of a three-year multi-tier wage deal it had agreed to in 2018.
Judge President of the Labour Court, Justice Basheer Waglay, had ruled the matter be heard directly at the Labour Appeal Court on December 2.
Sadtu general secretary Mugwena Maluleke said the unions were confident that they would emerge victorious, accusing the government of “spewing out flimsy excuses for reneging on the agreement”.
Maluleke said the government was refusing “point-blank to implement the increases, invoking constitutional issues where none existed”.
He said the matter had dragged the process into a time-consuming legal process likely to “yield no fruit”.
“The government is citing other priorities such as poverty and social grants for not complying with the collective agreement, as if such socio-economic problems had not existed before.
’’The government is plucking excuses out of the air and cluttering the process with breathtaking falsehoods,” Maluleke said.
The relief sought by DPSA and National Treasury relates to clause 3.3 of resolution 1 of 2018 of the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council, to be declared unlawful, invalid and unenforceable.
Clause 3.3 states that the salary adjustment for the period April 2020 to March 2021 effective from April 1 2020 from salary levels 1 to 7, be projected Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1%; level 8 to 10 be projected CPI plus 0.5%; and level 11 to 12, the highest earners, at projected CPI. The projected CPI is determined by the National Treasury.
In replying affidavits, Minister of Public Service and Administration, Senzo Mchunu, said: “The government already attempted to initiate negotiations ... but the unions have persisted and categorically refused to consider anything other than compliance with clause 3.3 or even to debate an alternative.”
He denied that the government was using legal machinery to frustrate unions.
“The cost of enforcing clause 3.3 was never approved by Parliament or National Treasury as required by the Constitution and regulations.
“At the time that resolution 1 was concluded, the DPSA informed the unions the cost of resolution 1 made up by the cost of enforcing clauses 3.3 exceeded the budgeted compensation envelope by R30 billion at the time.”
The unions have accused the government of a lack of good faith and failing to lead by example.
They also rejected claims by the National Treasury that the public wage increases were unaffordable, saying the Cabinet was aware of the economic conditions when it concluded the agreement.
The DPSA did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.
Cape Times