LABOUR federation COSATU in Gauteng will be picketing at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday in defence of collective bargaining.
This comes after government reneged on the implementation of the last leg of Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) Resolution 1 of 2018, and took public sector unions to the labour court that ruled in favour of the government.
According to the 2018 wage agreement that expires this year, workers in salary levels one to seven were meant to receive 5.4% in increases, salary level eight to 10 – 4.9% while those on 11 and 12 should have received 4.4%.
The Public Service Bargaining Council had cancelled all meetings due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
“Collective bargaining is enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and the Labour Relations Act and will be defended. The government has turned against workers and the working class through austerity measures which are destroying the livelihood of workers and the working class broadly,” the union federation said in a statement.
“We will fight this heinous act by the government until the last drop of our blood in defence of the hard-won victories by our forebears.”
The government wants to save billions of rand in the next few years.
The unions said the state must fight against corruption and ensure workers got increases.
Cosatu said most public servants are frontline workers who are a buffer between the deadly Covid-19 and the saving of lives, but the government decided to ignore their livelihood.
“Covid-19 resulted in more economic distress in this country that resulted in job losses, increases in food, fuel, rates, and service and electricity prices. Whilst this is a reality that affects South Africans broadly, public servants have not received their 2020 salary increases,” said Cosatu.
“With this being the case, COSATU in Gauteng calls all public servants to stand up and fight for constitutional rights and attend pickets at the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg and the DPSA in Tshwane. Public servants can either fight or starve hence COSATU chose to fight.”
- Inside Politics
