The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) is currently engaged in salary and wage negotiation for our members and municipal workers in both the Amanzi Bargaining Council (ABC) with the country’s 12 waterboards and the South African Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) with the country’s 257 municipalities an their entities, represented by the employer body, the South African Local Government Association (SALGA). 

 On ABC

Salary and wage negotiations for workers in the country’s waterboards commenced earlier this year under the auspices of the Amanzi Bargaining Council. Several rounds of negotiations failed to bring parties together hence a dispute was declared resulting in the negotiations going into Conciliations. 

 We are please to report that following rigorous engagements in the Bargaining Council, parties have agreed on most items and a salary and wage collective agreement will be concluded and signed in the next few days. 

 Parties have agreed on the following; 

1.      A single year salary and wage collective agreement backdated to 01 July 2021

2.      A 5,5% salary increase

3.      R3000 housing allowance for all workers under the ABC

4.      A minimum of 10% of basic salary to be paid as standby allowance capped at 14 days.

5.      A minimum of 10% of basic salary to be paid as standby allowance.

6.      Five months fully paid maternity leave

7.      Five days fully paid paternity leave

8.      Deferral of danger allowance, cellphone allowance and Occupational Nurses to plant level

9.      Establishment of a Task Team to conclude on pension fund contributions, medical aid, tenure of salary/ wage protection and shift configuration within three months.   

 On SALGBC

 Negotiations in the South African Local Government Bargaining Council began in March this year in anticipation of the previous salary and wage collective agreement coming to an end at the end of June this year. 

 Various rounds of negotiations yielded no positive results and as such the facilitator was asked to issue her proposal. All parties in the Bargaining Council rejected the facilitator’s proposal resulting in separate disputes being declared by all parties. 

 The declaration of disputes by all parties resulted in Conciliation process over several rounds with the Conciliator releasing his recommendations to parties for consideration as follows;

 1.      A 3 year salary and wage collective agreement effective July 2021

2.      A 3.5% salary increase in the first year of the agreement and a salary increase linked to projected CPI in the outer years of the agreement (2022 and 2023).

3.      A once-off amount R4000 for employees earning less than R12500 and R3000 once-off for those earning R12501 and above. 

4.      Sectoral minimum wage to increase by 3,5% salary increase in the first year of the agreement, the increase will be linked to salary increases in the outer years of the agreement. 

5.      A 0% increase in housing allowance and medical aid cap in the first year of the agreement. This freeze will be lifted in the second year of the agreement. 

6.      Demands for Medical Aid contribution and maternity and paternity leave to be deferred to the process of renegotiating the Main Collective Agreement. 

7.      Parties to agree on a process of investigating the employability of EPWP and CWP employees who are based in municipalities. 

 Parties in the SALGBC were given until the 31st August 2021 to indicate their acceptance of rejection of the Conciliator’s recommendations. The union’s Special National Executive Committee meeting held on the 31st August 2021 resolved by a majority vote to accept the Conciliator’s recommendations on the condition that the following adjustments are considered.  

 1.  The duration of the agreement, 

2.  Payment of the once-off amount to be done by no later than December 2021.  

3. Housing gap market, 

4.  No freeze on benefits in the first year of the agreement. 

As a result, parties will be returning for Conciliation on the 13th and 14th September to engage on the amendments. A Bargaining Committee meeting will be convened on the 15th September to consolidate on the amendments that the union had been mandated to make forward. 

 As a worker controlled trade union, we will immediately after the Bargaining Committee meeting convene structural meetings of the union to consolidate the outcomes of the two meetings. We want to assure our members that there will be no agreement signed by the union without the explicit say by members. 

 Issued by SAMWU Secretariat

Dumisane Magagula, 

Deputy General Secretary 

076 580 4029 

or

Papikie Mohale

National Media Officer

076 795 8670