Minister to hold urgent meeting with union leaders (29 July 2010); Eastern Cape Department of Education

Minister to hold urgent meeting with union leaders

Posted on Thursday, 29 July 2010
Article by BuaNews

Pretoria - In an urgent bid to avert the national strike by public servants tomorrow, Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi is scheduled to meet with union leaders this evening.

This will be the second meeting with union leaders since the salary negotiations started in May this year.

According to the Public Service and Administration Department's spokesperson Dumisani Nkwamba, the minister is on his way back from an official visit in Uganda and will meet with unions later tonight.

He said if no agreement is reached during this meeting, the scheduled meeting for tomorrow morning would still go ahead.

Government is to table its revised offer before the Public Service Coordinating and Bargaining Council (PSCBC) on Thursday.

"As government, we have indicated our willingness in resolving the matter amicably," Mr Nkwamba said.

Currently, the state is offering a 6.5 percent increase and a housing subsidy of R620 per month. The unions have demanded 8.6 percent and a R1000 housing subsidy. The unions had adjusted their initial demand of an 11 percent general salary increase to 8.6 percent and additional R1000 for a monthly housing allowance, as opposed to their first offer of R1 650.

The Public Servants Association (PSA) which has a membership of about 200 000 has indicated that its members will embark on strike tomorrow.

Earlier today, the teacher union SADTU indicated that they will be serving a notice to the employer wherein the employer has seven days to better the offer in order to avert a strike by its members.

Article Tags: Public Servants

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Posted by hyke - 15:22 on 29 July 2010

'The scheduled meeting for tomorrow morning will go ahead' What is the purpose of that meeting?What is the purpose of a meeting?Meeting with them is long overdue. They have given you the opportunity to solve the matter amicably and came up with amicable solutions.How I wish SADTU do not attend even tonight's meeting so that the "DoE officials" and the journalists can enjoy themselves have 'party' till Jesus (the first teacher) comes to Bisho to rescue teachers.