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COLA NEGOTIATIONS POSTPONED, UNION LEADERS MARCH TO MINISTRY

15/09/2022 09:29:00 Stanley Khumalo

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MANZINI – Negotiations on the cost-of-living adjustment (CoLA) for unionised civil servants were postponed at the 11th hour.

Yesterday, civil servants representatives under the banner of the Public Sector Unions (PSUs) of Swaziland could not sit in the Joint Negotiation Forum (JNF) as it was postponed to a date yet to be determined. The JNF comprises of the Government Negotiation Team (GNT) and PSUs, which are: National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) and Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP).

There are 42 686 civil servants according to the Establishment Register for the financial year 2022/23, and the PSUs represent about 21 535 based on their four unions’ membership updates. It is worth noting that not all civil servants are eligible to be part of unions as there are those classified as un-unionisable workers in the civil service. These are public workers in management, members of the security forces and politicians. Collectively, civil servants (unionised and un-unionised) draw their salary from a wage bill which was projected to be around E7.3 billion at the end of the past financial year (March 31, 2022).

Agreement

On June 27, the GNT and the Eswatini Principals Association (EPA) had a collective agreement, which saw un-unionisable civil servants being awarded three per cent CoLA of the monthly basic salary across the board which was backdated to April 1, 2022. In addition to this, they received a once-off payment of one per cent of their annual basic salary across the board. This resulted in those who are under the banner of PSUs being left out as at the time, the GNT and the unions were failing to agree on their agenda for the year. The act of awarding a certain faction of personnel seemingly brought panic among those paying subscriptions to unions and some have reportedly tendered resignation letters to their various unions.

However, as the PSUs have been allaying fears among their members by saying that they were yet to negotiate for CoLA, their hopes were dashed again as negotiations did not ensue yesterday, despite that last week they could not sit as there were only three working days following the Umhlanga National Holiday, which was followed by the Independence Day. After receiving the communiqué that there would be no JNF, the union leaders went to the Ministry of Public Service where they sought to establish the motive behind the postponement.

Demand

President of NAPSAWU Oscar Nkambule, when updating unionised civil servants through the official page of SNAT – The SNAT Platform – said they went to the Ministry of Public Service to demand a sitting and upon arrival, they were informed that some principal secretaries (PSs) were attending to Parliament business being conducted by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). However, Nkambule said upon further enquiry, they were informed that PSs and under secretaries (USs) were at a retreat. He said this, to them (unions), depicted that they were not taken seriously as the date had been availed to them by the PS in the Ministry of Public Service, Sipho Tsabedze, was also the Chairman of the JNF.

Nkambule, in the update, said what baffled them was that the retreat was organised by the same PS who had also invited them to the JNF. He said subsequent to establishing that the GNT was committed, they had requested that the negotiations be held today with the latest date being tomorrow (Friday). “We were advised to write to the PS, who said he would reply on Friday (tomorrow). So now we demand that we meet on Monday so that the negotiations can be completed then and if not, they can be concluded on Wednesday,” Nkambule said. In the same breath, he advised members of the PSUs not to give up as this did not mean that they would not get their CoLA. He said they were to table their demand and expected a counter offer from the employer.

Furthermore, the NAPSAWU president appealed to PSU members to reconsider their resignations. It is worth noting that this publication yesterday reported that 365 members were said to have tendered their resignations as members of the PSUs, with the hopes of benefitting from the three per cent CoLA and one per cent once-off which was awarded to un-unionised civil servants; however, these resignations were held in abeyance. It is worth noting that the Minister of Public Service, Mabulala Maseko, when issuing a statement on the awarding of CoLA to un-unionised civil servants, said there was E220 million for the item and that government had also set aside E55 million for the 2016 Salary Review Appeals and E15 million for the engagement of a consultant to undertake a salary review of the entire public service.

Concern

Meanwhile, following that PSUs had expressed concern that the JNF was not taken seriously, the PS in the Ministry of Public Service, Tsabedze, said; “It was unfortunate that the GNT was not available for the JNF today (yesterday) as a majority of the members were engaged in other responsibilities of government.” However, Tsabedze said they issued an apology to the PSUs to that effect on Tuesday. He said it was not true that the GNT was not taking them seriously. “In fact, they also send apologies when they are held up elsewhere, but we have never said they were not taking us seriously.” This publication also saw a letter seeking the postponement of the JNF to a proposed date of September 21, 2022. The letter from Tsabedze was posted on The SNAT Platform.

Meanwhile, the agenda of the JNF for this financial year between the GNT and PSUs in its order of priority is as follows; finalisation of the negotiations framework, salary review/allowances and then CoLA. The other items have been discussed in the past sittings, starting from August 10, 2022.