Talks between the South African Government and public sector unions have broken down and the dispute will now go to arbitration.
The dispute has important economic implications as public sector salaries make up around a third of State expenditure and the Government is trying to carve out more fiscal space to fight the COVID-19 pandemic without falling further into debt.
It is also politically sensitive, since the governing African National Congress is allied with some unions and will rely on them to rally support before Local Elections in 2021.
Unions have obtained a certificate of non-resolution of the dispute in the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC).
General Secretary of the PSCBC, Frikkie De Bruin (pictured) told reporters arbitration hearings would start by mid-June.
“An arbitrator will issue an award after the hearings are complete, with the matter potentially heading to court or resulting in a strike if the unions aren’t happy,” Mr De Bruin said.
A public-sector strike could cripple service delivery and harm efforts to contain the Coronavirus.
However, while unions have alluded to the threat, for now they are focusing on the arbitration hearing.
The wage dispute has been going on since February, when the Government said it couldn’t afford the final year of a three-year wage deal struck in 2018, and tried to change the deal’s terms.
The Government kept Public Servants’ wages flat in April, even though the 2018 agreement promised inflation-linked pay increases.
Some unions have threatened legal action and protests to make the Government honour the deal.
A spokesperson for the Department of Public Service and Administration, which is negotiating on behalf of Government, declined to comment.
Pretoria, 27 May 2020
