Pretoria - The City of Tshwane has voted against implementing salary hikes, blaming “financial constraints”, after delaying implementing an agreement with unions and the SA Local Government Association (Salga) last year.
The DA-led coalition achieved this decision by a narrow margin of 107 votes against 102 following strong opposition from the ANC and EFF. The two parties argued that the people of Tshwane should see who was denying the men and women who work for the municipality wage increases.
ActionSA and Freedom Front Plus councillors assisted the DA to reach the decision. They were adamant that the City would “not kill itself” trying to implement wages it could not afford at this point, especially not to impress opposition parties like the ANC, who were failing to pay their own workers at the party’s headquarters, Luthuli House.
The City is set to apply for an exception at the National Bargaining Council, to deviate from implementing a 3.5% increase that was supposed to be effected from July 21 last year. Success in this regard would have no back-pay for the workers.
Salga had also announced salary adjustments every year for three years, with a once-off non-pensionable cash allowance.
The collective agreement had noted that currently Tshwane’s liquidity status was poor, and the affordability of the increase will have to be weighed against the adverse effects of possible labour unrest should the agreement not be implemented.
This meant that if the financial position of the City was such that the collective agreement could not be implemented, the collective agreement under clause 15.1 made provision for an exemption process to be followed.
In the report covering this issue, Tshwane’s finance officer advised council that the salary and wage increase will have a financial implication of R489 121 480.50 for the financial year 2021/2022. This was inclusive of the once-off non-pensionable cash allowance.
However, Tshwane regional general secretary for the SA Municipal Workers’ Union Mpho Tladinyane said the union was not deterred, and they were confident the workers would get what was due to them.
He said they would allow the City to make an application for an exception as it was its right, but the workers had their rights too.
“As the union, having noted that the City was delaying the implementation of the salary increase, we had referred the matter to the bargaining council to say there is this particular matter and the City was not implementing.
“The bargaining council issued a compliance order and the City could not implement the compliance order within a period of 10 days as stipulated in terms of our own processes and rules. That particular matter has since been referred to arbitration and it will be heard on March 9.”
Pretoria News