Municipal workers are biggest losers as wage negotiations deadlock

Posted: 08 June 2018

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JOHANNESBURG: The South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) has formally rejected the Facilitator's proposal resulting in wage negotiations reaching a deadlock. This implies that SAMWU has rejected the three-year 7% salary & wage increase proposal as it was presented by the South African Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) Facilitator overseeing the wage negotiations.

After consultations with their constituencies, SALGA and Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (IMATU) members accepted the Facilitator proposal and the ball was left with SAMWU who had requested more time to engage its members. However, following today’s feedback session, no agreement could be reached and SAMWU decided to formally declare a dispute with the bargaining council.

The Facilitator’s multi three-year 7% salary & wage increase, which was to be applied across the board, would have taken effect on 1 July 2018, has now been set aside

Earlier this morning, SAMWU tabled two options during the negotiations; a multi three-year wage increase of 8% OR a single year 7% wage increase. SALGA and IMATU were taken aback with SAMWU’s new stance and rejected this in favour of the old Facilitator’s proposal.

SALGA is very disappointed by SAMWU as these developments have direct consequences to all the parties, including IMATU. Given that SAMWU has rejected the Facilitator’s proposal, SALGA’s has now reverted to its 6.6% because this is what municipalities had initially mandated it to present.

SALGA wants to put it on record that SAMWU has not provided reasons for rejecting the Facilitator’s proposal or taken the parties into confidence as to why they were rejecting the Facilitator’s proposal when they were party to its conception.