Government faces strike action over protracted wage talks
15 May 2018
The Public Servants Association (PSA) will start balloting its members in favour of a strike as the union grows increasingly frustrated with protracted government wage negotiations.
“The employer has plunged the public service into total collapse, and the PSA has strongly warned against this before. This is a sad day, when government fails to comprehend the dire consequences of this non-resolution,” PSA deputy general manager, Tahir Maepa, said on Tuesday.
While government has kept mum on its wage offer, it is reported to be 7% increases at junior salary levels and 6% for senior staff (approximately 2% higher than the estimated Consumer Price Index of 5.2% for 2018).
Unions are demanding between 10% and 12% wage hikes, the abolition of lower salary levels and the delinking of housing allowances when both spouses work in the public sector.