Public Service Minister to meet with labour

Public Service and Administration Minister, Ayanda Dlodlo, is set to meet with labour to discuss the impact of the Constitutional Court judgement handed down on Monday.

According to the department, this is to ensure that trust and respect between labour and the employer remains intact.

In a statement, the Department of Public Service and Administration said it notes the judgment and recognises the sanctity and integrity of the bargaining processes that has been upheld.

“The judgment reinforces the benefit and opportunity to strengthen collective bargaining structures that the Employer and Labour would have to embrace going forward.

“Government would be driven by the renewed spirit and purpose that the Constitutional Court has emphasised, namely parties should endeavour to ensure the legality of bargaining processes remains steadfast.

“Government and Labour would definitely find this judgment to be creating uncharted waters in as much as it reinforces the importance that all the parties should espouse towards the establishment of good faith,” it said.

On Monday, the Constitutional Court handed down a unanimous judgment in an application for leave to appeal against the judgment and order of the Labour Appeal Court, which dismissed the applicants’ application to enforce clause 3.3 of the collective agreement between the State and various trade unions, which determined public sector wage increases for the 2020/2021 period.

On 31 October 2017, the Committee of Ministers (COM), which consists of among others, the Minister of Public Service and Administration and the Minister of Finance, mandated the Department of Public Service and Administration’s chief negotiator to negotiate wage increases for the 2018-2021 period with trade union representatives of public sector employees at the Public Service Coordinated Bargaining Council (PSCBC).

In November 2017, the National Treasury (Treasury) prepared the 2017 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) in terms of which R128.5 billion was set aside to fund the compensation increases for all public service employees over the period 2018/2019 to 2020/2021.

Of this amount, R110 billion was allocated to fund the cost of compensation increases for employees in the PSCBC bargaining unit.

Effect was given to these and other recommendations in the MTBPS with the passing of the Adjustments Appropriation Act 12 of 2017 and various other pieces of legislation. Subsequently, wage negotiations began.