Tshwane intends challenging bargaining council’s salary hike decision

The City of Tshwane intends to challenge the bargaining council’s decision to force it to pay 5.4% salary increase that was promised to its 29,000 employees in 2021. 

The SA Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) dismissed the city’s application to be exempted from paying the salary increases, which the parties agreed to in 2021 until Tshwane pulled out of the deal this year when in May it passed a budget with zero salary increases. This led to violent strikes by workers from the unions Samwu and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union’s (Imatu) which crippled services delivery in the city. 

Although SALGBC’s decision might be a triumph for the union, the city’s mayor Cilliers Brink said they would challenge it through courts.

“Having reviewed that [SALGBC] decision we have decided to take it on review at the Labour Court because as much as the bargaining council admits that Tshwane is in financial distress and that we are in very difficult position when it comes to paying increases, nonetheless it declined our decision. We believe there are grounds for review of this decision in the best interests of the residents of Tshwane. We trust that law and order in these circumstances will be maintained,” said Brink.  

Samwu general secretary Dumisani Magagula welcomed the SALGBC’s ruling and said the city must implement it. 

“If Brink and his administration really respect collective bargaining and cares for the wellbeing of employees, the ruling of the SALGBC and the collective agreement will be implemented with immediate effect,” said Magagula.

“The city was given an opportunity to make their case and they have failed convince the commissioner that they are indeed facing financial difficulties, which prevents them from paying the increases. As Samwu, we will be closely monitoring the developments in Tshwane,” said Magagula.

Melita Baloyi, the chairperson of Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union’s Tshwane region said she was delighted with the council’s ruling.

“I am appealing to the employer to implement the collective agreement in line with the exemption outcome and do the right thing by paying employees their salary increases,” said Baloyi.

“We have, in the past weeks, seen what the impasse between the employer and employees has caused not only to the employees, but also to the employer and to the general public with no provision of basic services.

“As Imatu we align to our motto that says, “Let us get local government working and we rely on the employer to pay the 5.4% increase to restore stability in the city.”

The municipality had argued at the SALGBC that it should be exempted because it was unable to budget for the 2023/2024 increase because there is no funding to pay for it and the municipality cannot afford it.

The council directed the municipality comply with the salary and wage agreement concluded between organised workers and SA Local Government Association in 2021. According to the agreement, parties in the SALGBC would have seen municipal workers in the country’s 257 municipalities receive a 3.5% in 2021, 4.9% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023 salary and wage increases.

This means that the City of Tshwane municipality must pay the 5.4% salary increase to its employees with effect from July 1.

Delivering the ruling on Monday morning, the council’s senior commissioner Eleanor Hambridge said she was assisted by financial expert Krish Kumar in assessing the financial information of the city.

She said the 2023/2024 budget indicated an overall increase in expenditure and income of 6%. “…and thus it is anticipated that these measures will go a long way to ameliorate the applicant’s [City of Tshwane] financial predicament.

She said the city’s budget provision was R12,640,889,388 and when compared to the actual expenditure of R11,494,593,387 for 2022/2023 financial year.

“…there is a difference of R1,146,296,001, and accordingly it is fair to both [the city] and the employees to conclude that sufficient provision has been made in the 2023/2024 budget to cover the increase in an amount of R602m,” said Hambridge.

“I am further persuaded to decline this exemption application, as granting such has the potential to undermine centralised collective bargaining in this sector.”