Pretoria - Pressure is mounting on the government and the ANC to resolve the deadlock on wage negotiations with public sector unions.
Cosatu, the Federation of Unions of South Africa and the South African Federation of Trade Unions are planning a nationwide shutdown on Tuesday.
While the government is due to implement the disputed 3% salary hike for public servants today, the unions affiliated to the three federations met three days ago and agreed to mobilise all their members to stay away from their workplaces on Tuesday.
The unions’ leaders are expected to address the media at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council offices in Centurion to announce their planned strike.
The shutdown is expected to affect services at major hospitals and national key points in the country.
At the heart of the unions’ complaints is the government’s unilateral payment of the salary increase despite the wage deadlock declared in October and early this month.
The Young Communist League of SA is the latest SACP component structure to attack the government for dragging its feet in dealing with the dispute.
The movement has also expressed its rejection of the latest move to retrench almost 6 000 workers at the South African Post Office and 2 000 mineworkers at Sibanye-Stillwater.
Last week, the SACP also slammed the government after thousands of Public Servants Association (PSA) members marched to the National Treasury in Pretoria, demanding that the government withdraw its unilateral salary increase.
Expressing its dismay, the union said the government should refrain from undermining collective bargaining, including by way of the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement.
It also said that the government had not given workers any say in deciding the content and direction of the statement.
Now, the Young Communist League has added fuel into the fire, accusing the government of undermining collective bargaining that might affect the ANC’s electoral support.
“Government deployees have turned themselves into political freelancers where they just act without noticing the damage they are causing for the movement in its entirety, or even to defy alliance resolutions.
“This is problematic in that it continues to weaken the capacity of the state to deliver much-needed services to the people,” said its national secretary, Tinyiko Ntini.
“We remain firm in our support for the ongoing pickets by public servants against the 3% wage increase offered by the government.”
Aware of the schism between its alliance partners, ANC treasurer-general and acting secretary-general Paul Mashatile announced on Monday that his party was aiming to hold an economic alliance with the SACP and Cosatu. He said their discussion would include the energy crisis in the country.
Pretoria News