A tough next round of wage negotiations has been set up after public sector unions lost a court bid that will see their members lose out on the third year increases of the collective wage agreement reached in 2018.
The Constitutional Court has dismissed an application by trade unions to enforce clause 3.3 of the collective agreement between unions and the state which determined public sector wage increases for the 2020/2021 period.
If the court ruled in the favour of the unions, it would have cost the government R75.6 billion in backpay.
Labour analyst Terry Bell believes that when wage negotiations begin in March 2022, the government will have no trust from trade unions. This, as the government has backed out of an agreement.
The National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa’s Basil Manual says the unions are shocked with the decision taken by the court. He described it as a sad day not only for the public but for collective bargaining as a whole.
He said, “We hold fast that while we respect the highest court in the country that the employer, the employer's conduct flies in the face of good faith bargaining”.
Manual adds they will attend the upcoming public service summit to ensure that public servants, including teachers and education workers are treated more fairly.
“We need to see that the minister and her negotiators keep not only promises, but the legalities and that every single legal point has been ticked and made before they come to sign on the dotted line at a resolution” concluded Manual.
