Healthcare unions joined several other trade unions last week on a countrywide strike and are threatening further action if government continues to ignore their 10% wage increase demands.
The Health and Other Services Personnel Trade Union of SA (Hospersa), the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa) and the Public Servants Association (PSA), were among the protesting unions, according to a BusinessLIVE report.
They said the 3% increase announced by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana during the medium-term budget policy statement is “a slap on the face”, according to News24, while some members claimed they had not received salaries since last year.
Union members marched to the National Treasury headquarters in Pretoria last Thursday (10 November) to demand that government honour its three-year wage agreement: public servants had not seen a wage increment since 2018.
During his mini budget speech last month, Godongwana said that Treasury had budgeted for a 3% increase for public servants for 2022, to be backdated from April.
However, some 285 000 public servants protested nationwide against the 3%, with Hospersa and PSA members making up 235 000 of the protesters.
The strike is the first organised mass action by the PSA in more than 10 years.
PSA assistant general manager Reuben Maleka called the strike “a huge success”, saying said the PSA would continue to picket during lunchtime to give government a chance to respond to labour demands for an intervention resulting in a better wage increase within seven days.
News24 article – Unpaid public workers vow to shut down the country (Open access)
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