Pretoria - Government employees expressed shock and anger over news that they would receive lower salary increases than bargained for.
Public servants expected 7 percent wage increases in line with the newly signed agreement between unions and the government, but it has emerged they would be getting only 6.4 percent when the deal gets implemented.
The Department of Public Service and Administration has issued a circular to workers saying the employer would cut back 0.6 percent from the new deal, signed two weeks ago, to recover debt incurred due to a shortfall arising out of its incorrect projection of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Last year public servants were paid 6.2 percent plus 1 percent in increases instead of the actual CPI figure of 5.6 percent plus 1 percent for the year under contestation.
With the Treasury confirming that the department indeed got it wrong, the government now wants workers to foot the bill for the 0.6 percent difference.
Some employees resisted the changes on social media, saying they would be far worse off with the cutback owing to the increased costs of living.
“Everything is getting expensive and our money gets less. This is not fair. Now we must suffer because the “system” messed up. It is not our problem if we have been overpaid,” said Elmarie Louw on Facebook.
Unions said they felt betrayed by the employer and have sought urgent legal advice together with the department and the process is led by the Public Sector Co-ordinating Bargaining Council.
Basil Manuel of the Independent Labour Caucus, an umbrella body for non-Cosatu unions in the council, said they’d managed to get the government to temporarily halt the implementation of the 6.4 percent until the matter was clarified.
But this also means the workers would have to wait even longer to see increases in their bank accounts. The first set of salaries with the improvements were meant to be effected on June 15.
Manuel demanded to know why government negotiators failed to raise the question over owed monies during the wage talks. “There’s a storm brewing. It shows deceitfulness, bargaining in bad faith. We were even at conciliation and at no stage did they think to put it on the table. The fact that they did not inform the unions smacks of bad faith of the worst kind,” he said.
But department spokesman Brent Simons said unions were aware of the matter as it was included in the agreement signed in 2012.
Clause 3.6 of that resolution reads: “If the actual percentage for a period is lower than the projected average, the difference shall be deducted from the adjustment for the following year”.
The state had invoked this clause when it sent the directive to workers telling them of the changes before consulting labour. The Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA defended the new agreement. “… after March 31, Resolution 1 of 2012 came to an end and therefore not applicable as replaced by Resolution 2 of 2015. This confirms all we have been saying about the conduct of the employer… We have characterised the employer as disingenuous, dishonest, mischievous, untrustworthy and dubious because they never mentioned this during negotiations”, the union said.
The onus was now on the legal committee set up by the department to decide whether the new increase would remain 7 percent or 6.4 percent upon implementation.
Pretoria News