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The unions said the ruling by the Labor Appeals Court would have implications for future collective bargaining. Photo: Nhlanhla Nkosi
- The Public Servants Association has instructed its legal team to take the salary dispute to the Constitutional Court.
- Last month, the Labor Appellate Court rejected his request to force the government to pay wage increases for 2020.
- The unions said the ruling would have implications for future collective bargaining.
Having lost its bid to get the Labor Court of Appeals to force the government to pay salary increases by 2020, the Public Officials Association (PSA) will now take the battle to the Constitutional Court.
Last year, the government breached the final year of a three-year wage agreement, prompting legal challenge from the PSA and other unions.
The government intends to cut the compensation budget by R160 billion over the next three years, as part of a fiscal consolidation plan to avoid a sovereign debt crisis. The implementation of the salary increases for 2020 would have required him to pay some R37 billion.
The Labor Appeals Court ruled in favor of the government that the agreement was invalid. However, the unions had said the ruling would have implications for future collective bargaining agreements.
In a statement issued Thursday, the PSA, which represents some 240,000 public sector employees, said it instructed its legal team to take the matter to the Constitutional Court.
“The PSA is not satisfied with the ruling because it has serious repercussions for the future of collective bargaining in the country. The state must be held accountable for signing an agreement that it had no intention of implementing,” the union said.
According to the PSA, rising costs for food, fuel, transportation, medical care and other living expenses, as well as the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, weighed on public servants who had been providing critical services “during the pandemic.
“Simply speaking lip service and congratulating frontline workers is simply not enough to financially help public servants who were due to receive pay raises in April 2020.”
The union will present its papers to the Constitutional Court on January 29.
He also wants public service salary negotiations to begin for fiscal year 2021/22.
