Johannesburg - The SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) is taking the fight for wage increases to the Constitutional Court.
Last week, public unions lost their bid in the Labour Court to compel the government to implement the third year of salary increases. Unions took the government to court to implement pay hikes of up to 7% that were supposed to begin in July.
The court ruled that the clause which would have allowed public servants to receive increases in 2020 was unlawful and unenforceable.
The government has said it wants to reduce the public service wage bill and this is one of the reasons salaries have not been increased.
At a national executive committee meeting at the weekend, Sadtu resolved to take the issue to the Constitutional Court. In its resolutions, the union said it was unhappy that the court did not look at the alternatives offered, such as an incremental increase.
“The NEC noted the untold negative effects the ruling would have on public servants and collective bargaining. The NEC resolved to appeal the ruling at the Constitutional Court.”
The union’s deputy general secretary, Nkosana Dolopi, said: “Such a serious matter, if left unattended, allowing it to go on unchallenged, will be undermining freedom of association … and thus, collective bargaining.
“We are a nation built on negotiation. If you reach a stage where the court allows the breakdown of collective bargaining it means you destroy democracy. That might lead to anarchy with wildcat strikes and we don’t want that. Labour peace is hinging on this.”
Dolopi said the court ruling would also have an effect on staff morale in the public sector. “… if you don’t give workers increases, it affects their morale. Then there is no way you will have a motivated staff complement.
“When we were all working from home and running away from Covid19, nurses undermined their own lives and went to hospitals and worked. Police officers worked while everyone had a break. A lot of the time teachers have to use their own money to cover costs at school. And now you show no regard for them. The government is removing the human element from their argument.”
On the Basic Education Department’s decision to implement a 3-year recovery plan to assist schools to catch up after disruptions due to Covid-19, Sadtu said: “The plan may not fit the contextual realities on the ground as it makes a false assumption that schools will return to normal in 2021 and that all learners will return to school from day one on normal times, as stipulated in the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (Caps) will be adhered to for the entire academic year.
“The plan doesn’t make provision for the different timetabling options with only 50% of learners at school at a time and the adherence to physical distancing.”
The union called for the recovery plan to be more flexible, “allow principals and teachers the authority and autonomy to manage and implement the curriculum based on the context of the school and to accommodate unequal learning losses”.
The Star