THE Public Servants’ Association (PSA) which represents more than 235 000 public sector employees, is preparing for industrial action after the majority of its members rejected the government’s latest salary offer.

Public service members who work for government institutions, including the South African Police Service, teachers, or nurses and public healthcare workers, wish to down tools in protest against a lower-than-inflation proposed wage increase by the government.

South Africa is currently embroiled in industrial action, the latest being at the national port and freight company Transnet, and costing the country billions in productivity loss.

Writing in a press statement, the public servants union declared a dispute on Tuesday (October 11) after the government made a final offer of 2%, which was then subsequently improved to a 3% pensionable salary adjustment and continued payment of the cash gratuity until March 31, 2023/.

This offer, however, was again rejected by a majority vote of the union’s members.

While public sector unions have demanded an 8% wage increase, the PSA said that they went as low as 6.5% – arguing that this is a deep compromise, considering inflation is above 7%.

The PSA said that the government has indicated that the offer is now “off the table”, but the union believes that pending strike action will prompt the government to reconsider its position.

“The PSA remains committed to serving the interests of the Union’s members and is convinced that a strike is unavoidable if the government remains arrogant,” said the union.

The 3% pay offer was turned down on the grounds that public sector employees’ salaries had not grown in the previous three years. The unions claimed that because costs are rising but earnings have remained flat, the lack of increases has had a detrimental effect on the lives of its workers.

On October 6, the minister of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) Thulas Nxesi and finance minister Enoch Godongwana said that the government’s proposed 3% increase was “generous”.

The ministers said that the government is grappling with a “balancing act” between wage increases and additional headcounts, saying “there’s always competition” between the two.

Frontline services need more employees to keep up with the increasing demand for public services such as in education, police, and health – which have not increased in line with the growing population, said the ministers.

“It becomes imperative that the current and future wage agreements strive to strike a balance between remuneration increases and the need for additional headcounts.”

To continue with the strike legally, the union said it has complied with the Labour Relations Act and has engaged with respective parties to propose draft picketing rules before filing its notice to strike.

The PSA said that by October 17, the employer and the union would conclude on the rules that, if not agreed upon, the union would issue a notice to strike and commence with a picket in support of a strike.

“It has been more than three years since public servants have received a salary increase while the cost of food, electricity, petrol and transport have escalated,” the PSA said. “In addition, increases to the repo rate have worsened the lives of public servants.”

Strike season is in full swing, and according to new data in South African Reserve Bank’s Quarterly Bulletin over the first half of this year, the economy lost a total of 1.6 million workdays as a result of industrial action.

The increase in the number of work days lost is a direct result of 31 000 workers at three of the country’s gold mines owned by Sibanye Stillwater downing tools for three months.