0.0% PAY RISE FOR CIVIL SERVANTS

MBABANE – Its E0.00 increment for civil servants. This, in essence means things are not looking good for civil servants in the country as government has offered zilch as their cost of living adjustment.

This is in contrast to the public sector associations’ (PSAs) wishes after they tabled a cost of living adjustment demand of 9.15 per cent to for the current financial year.
The associations got their disappointment yesterday after the much anticipated agenda in the Joint Negotiation Forum (JNF); the cost of living adjustment made its way to the round table where government made its counter offer.

It was gathered that the Government Negotiation Team (GNT) tabled a zero per cent offer and stated its reasons, which include how it looked at the fiscal situation of the country, including how the deficit stood at around E6 billion in the last financial year.
“Government believes that turning down that request of 9.15 per cent would be ideal for now and that perhaps in the next financial year it would have recovered,” a source said. Other reasons stated by government include that the cash flow packaging was wanting and did not meet the benefit that it had.

Furthermore, government stated that the current wage bill of around E6 billion was already a challenge and that agreeing to the offer made by the public sector associations would make it shoot up to around E7 billion.

“Government also submitted that the volatility of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) receipts was another factor cementing that the country could not rely on them,” said the source.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: