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Public sector unions band together to demand 15% increase Wendell Roelf, Reuters, Business Day, Johannesburg, 3 October 2014 South Africa's main public service unions, which collectively represent about 1.3-million workers, have a common position in demanding a 15% salary hike from government, a senior union official said on Friday. Workers also wanted a R3,000 monthly housing allowance and a 28% rise for medical aid contributions, he said. The National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU), which is part of the alliance, announced on Wednesday that it wanted the same deal for its members. Besides the Public Servants Association (PSA), the largest non-affiliated public service union with about 230,000 members, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU), the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) and NEHAWU are represented in the bargaining council. "All the major unions ... have a common position, demanding a 15% wage increase," PSA deputy general manager Manie de Clercq said on Friday. Government was expected to respond to the opening wage demand next week, in what could be a lengthy negotiation process, likely to run until December, Mr de Clercq said. "No union wants to strike but this cannot be ruled out, it will depend on the flexibility of the parties negotiating," he said. The longest mining strike in SA's history ended in June but has hobbled the economy and any industrial action in other sectors will be of concern for investors. In September outgoing Reserve Bank governor Gill Marcus warned that recent above-inflation wage demands have not matched inflation and productivity and could hamper growth in the economy. Reuters From: http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/labour/2014/10/03/public-sector-unions-band -together-to-demand-15-increase -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
