Since the Labour Appeal Court handed the government a major victory earlier this week by shooting down inflation-busting salary increases for public servants, the political fallout from vexed trade unions has happened fast.
Trade unions representing SA’s 1.2 million public servants are not giving up without a fight and weighing up two options that will further put a strain on their relationship with the government.
The first option includes trade unions approaching the Constitutional Court to appeal against the Labour Appeal Court ruling, which declared that the enforcement of a 2018 wage agreement was “unlawful”.
The second option might throw SA into chaos because trade unions – including the Public Servants’ Association (PSA) and the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) – have threatened a strike by public servants. Saftu’s threat was more specific: “Saftu is calling on all the public servants to mobilise for [a] February 24 [2021] general s
The controversial decision by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni to not award inflation-beating salary increases to public servants in 2020 – under the last leg of the 2018 wage agreement – has been backed by the Labour Appeal Court.
The court in Johannesburg has ruled that the enforcement of the wage agreement is unlawful and contradicts sections 213 and 215 of the Constitution because the government can no longer afford to pay salary increases to 1.2 million public servants.
This is a major victory for Mboweni, who wants to implement wage freezes for public servants over the next three years to slash government spending by R300-billion and bring ballooning state debt under control. The wage bill for public servants is out of control; it exploded from R154-billion in 2006 to R639-billion in 2020 – becoming the largest component of government expenditure. In the wage freeze endeavour, Mboweni is supported by Public Service and Administration Minister Senzo Mchunu.
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Implementation of the three-year wage agreement is in contravention of the Constitution. 16:15
Minister of Public Service and Administration Senzo Mchunu. Image: GCIS
Labour unions in the public sector have been dealt a blow in their fight to have the government implement the final leg of a multi-year wage agreement.
On Tuesday, judges Dennis Davis, Phillip Coppin and Violet Phatshoane dismissed the application. They further found that the unions’ appeal for the courts to force the government to implement the final year of the 2018 wage deal contravenes section 213 and 215 of the Constitution and sections 78 and 79 of the Public Services Act.