SADTU3 SADTU Update, February 2016 Speaker's Notes and Booklet for the 2016 Education Workers' Forums Full Contents (present section in bold): Introduction Pseudo Movements Defending Collective Bargaining The Privatisation of Education Migration of TVET Lecturers in terms of the Public Service Act Government Employees' Medical Scheme (GEMS) Government Employee Housing Scheme (GEHS) 2016 Retirement and Tax Reforms Record of NEC Decisions on MTT recommendations Conclusion Government Employees' Medical Scheme (GEMS) During the 2015/16 Public Service Wage negotiations, the PSCBC concluded two Resolutions dealing with GEMS: Resolution 2 of 2015: The resolution dealt with the increase of medical aid subsidy by 28.5% to cover the period 2012 - 2014 during which the government subsidy was never increased; It further dealt with future increases that shall be in accordance with the Medical Price Index (MPI) and shall be adjusted on the 1st of January of each year. On the adjustment according to the Medical Price Index: The employer has not implemented the adjustment on the 1st January 2016 in line with the MPI that was determined in August 2015 as at 9%. This has a negative effect on the members because the despite the failure by the employer to adjust the subsidy by 9%, GEMS has already increased its subscriptions in January 2016 as follows: . Sapphire: 9% . Beryl: 9% . Ruby: 9.25% . Emerald: 9.25% . Onyx: 11.15% . Even on average the increase by GEMS is 9.39%, a figure still above the MPI. GIVEN THE SCENARIOS ABOVE, CAN WE SAY GEMS IS STILL AFFORDABLE???????? Resolution 3 of 2015: Given the challenges experienced by the members of GEMS and lack of accountability to members, the PSCBC concluded Resolution 3 of 2015 that would allow the Parties to the PSCBC to review GEMS in order to streamline its Administration and Governance and to make it accountable to the PSCBC. This is a way of taking back the control of GEMS back to its owners; i.e. members. The resolution therefore called for a review on the efficacy of the operating model of GEMS; and whether GEMS is fulfilling the objectives which it was established for, which is access and affordability. It further stated that the review process should be completed within 12 months of the signing of the resolution; The resolution was signed in May 2015. The review process has not yet begun due to the dispute we had to declare on the non-implementation of 7% and thereafter the dispute on the non-implementation of the R1200.00 Housing Allowance. GIVEN THE POSTURE OF THE STATE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SIGNED RESOLUTIONS, HOW DO WE INTENSIFY OUR CALL FOR A NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE AND SCRAP GEMS THAT IS FAILING ON ITS PRIMARY OBJECTIVES??????? For more resources on opposition to Privatisation, please click: <https://counter-summit.wikispaces.com/Index> Button, Main.jpg -- -- 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.
