- Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Striking workers vote on new wage offer
- Date: 1st September 2010
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOE MPISI, CHAIRMAN OF NATIONAL EDUCATION, HEALTH AND ALLIED WORKERS UNION OF GAUTENG PROVINCE, SAYING: "At the moment we haven't accepted nor rejected the offer. What is happening is that we are consulting with our members starting from this afternoon and tomorrow and then we consolidate the majority from this particular meeting. If majority are sayi
- Embargoed: 16th September 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: South Africa
- Country: South Africa
- Topics: Employment,Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAC18Q8BJ82L841LWMDACD1QJRT
- Story Text: South Africa's government has made a new wage offer to striking state workers on Tuesday (August 31) to end a labour dispute that has raised investor concerns over Africa's largest economy.
Civil servants' pay may now go up by 7.5 per cent - an increase from the original offer of 7 per cent but still lower that the unions' demand of 8.6 per cent raise. It also offered 800 rand (109 U.S. dollars ) monthly housing allowance - up from R700 but lower than R1,000 requested by the unions.
The government's new offer was issued in the morning after long talks with union leaders. The unions will now consult their members and a final decision, that could end the strike, would possibly taken on Wednesday.
"At the moment we haven't accepted nor rejected the offer. What is happening is that we are consulting with our members starting from this afternoon and tomorrow and then we consolidate the majority from this particular meeting. If majority are saying yes we accept but if the majority say no, they don't accept, then we won't accept that particular offer," said Joe Mpisi, Gauteng province chairman of the National Education, Health workers and Allied Workers Union which is heading the protest by striking workers at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.
The new offer came after South African President Jacob Zuma called on his government to end the biggest strike for the last three years.
Analysts said the offer improved prospects for a deal to end the strike that has closed schools, affected hospital treatment and harmed investor sentiment in Africa's biggest economy.
Most of South Africa's 1.3m civil servants stopped working two weeks ago.
The strike added to tensions between President Jacob Zuma's ruling African National Congress and the country's largest labour federation COSATU, which has a long-standing governing alliance with Africa's oldest political party.
If the unions reject the offer, Zuma could face one of the biggest crises of his term with a massive strike looming, more threats to the alliance and his foes looking to seize as much power from him as possible. That could leave him far weaker with most of his five-year term still ahead.
The government could try to impose its wage offer unilaterally to end the impasse, but this would further strain ties with labour. It could also quickly improve its wage offer to limit the damage.
Zuma and the ANC would find themselves in a weaker position heading into local elections early next year that would embolden the opposition. But its virtual one-party rule would not be in jeopardy.
If accepted, the government's latest proposal will likely swell state spending by an amount equal to about 1 to 2 percent of the overall budget. That will force the government to find new funds just as it tries to bring down a deficit totalling 6.7 percent of gross domestic product.
There are worries that the deal could lead to higher taxes or cause South Africa to increase its borrowing, making it more costly to obtain loans and leading to increased budget spending to pay for servicing the debt. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None