
Government to implement a two-year 7.5% public sector wage increase.
The majority of parties have agreed to a two-year agreement that includes a 7.5% rise, according to a statement made on Friday.
The 2023 Public Sector Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) wage discussions are said to have been acknowledged by National Treasury (PSCBC).
The increase is significantly higher than the 4.7 percent the finance minister penciled for his budget.
The following clauses were included in the employer’s final offer, which was submitted to the PSCBC on March 17, 2023:
– A two-year multi-term agreement for the financial year 2023/24 and financial year 2024/25.
– Pensionable salary increases of 7.5% for employees on levels 1 – 12 packaged as follows:
a) Translation of the current non-pensionable cash gratuity at the value of 4.2% on the baseline.
b) A nominal increase of 3.3% across the board.
c) The pay progression of 1.5% for all qualifying public servants shall continue, as per the existing dispensation across all departments.
According to the Citizen, Trevor Shaku, a national spokesperson for SAFTU, stressed the significance of employees comprehending the intricacies of this new offer.
“In this wage offer for 2023/24, the government is tabling a 3% as a new offer. The 4.5% is merely a carry-over of the cash gratuity paid to workers since 2021,” he explained.
“The only difference now is that it is being translated from a non-pensionable cash-gratuity into a pensionable salary on the baseline.
“In the past, we have argued that workers must reject the cash-gratuity primarily because it was stalling the wage increases for a multi-term period, and it was inflicting losses on the pensions of workers.”
The Public Servants Association’s Reuben Maleka said they have opted to participate in the wage negotiations to mitigate the risk of public servants not receiving an increase in the 2023/24-financial year.
“In addition, public servants could be further negatively impacted if the cash gratuity ended without another agreement in place,” said Shaku.
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