Mbabane – Minister of Public Service Mabulala Maseko has called on members of the Public Sector Unions (PSUs) to use the front door and follow the laid-down procedures of the Joint Negotiation Forum (JNF) to address grievances.
Maseko was speaking after thousands of civil servants gathered at the SNAT Centre on Monday when deliberating on the salary review process. He said while the government had noted the workers’ submissions, there is not much to comment on yet. It would call for the filing of formal submissions to the forum for consideration, he said.
“Government only recognises formally written-down submissions,” he stressed, adding that the negotiation table would be meeting tomorrow and hopefully produce the final report, allowing the government to initiate processing civil servants’ salaries for this month.
During their meeting at the SNAT Centre, civil servants resolved to accompany PSU leaders to the negotiations and to picket outside while talks were underway.
Maseko said yesterday’s picketing while the negotiations were ongoing amounts to an “intimidating tactic”.
He said the agreement to negotiate clearly stipulates who should attend the forum and who is ineligible, warning that if people who are not part of the forum gatecrash, it would be illegal.
On the matter of the E500 million offer, the minister noted that the government could consider paying a certain portion now and commit to the balance at a later stage, including outlining how backpay would be managed. He appealed to the workers to be patient and await the outcome of the formal structures.
However, PSU members vowed to reject the government’s offer of another promised option of a E1.6 billion salary increase, threatening to stage a go-slow until their demand was met.
The PSUs’ pushback stems from fears that the government might not keep its promise in the next financial year.
They say they witnessed the dragged Phase II salary adjustment meant for the junior security forces, which was implemented this year, attached to only a few months of backpay.
Discussion about this post