STATEMENT BY DR ZOLA SKWEYIYA, MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION ON WAGE NEGOTIATIONS IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE
Issued by: Minister For The Public Service and Administration
25 July 1995
Earlier this year, I announced that, in an effort to normalise labour relations in the Public Service and pursuant to a meeting between the Executive Deputy Presidents, myself and the presidents of the employee organisations admitted to the Central Chamber of the Public Service Bargaining Council, it was decided to set up joint Task Teams to look into all issues of conditions of service, including the improvement of salaries and wages, to be addressed within a three year plan. Resulting from this, a Main Task Team and a number of Sub-task Teams were established to investigate specific areas of concern.
I am glad to state that this initiative contributed to negotiations in the Public Service being put back on track with an agreement being reached on 23 May 1995 on a plan for the improvement of conditions of service for the current financial year. The details of the agreement reached is contained in the statement of Ms Sankie Mtembi-Nkondo, which is attached for easy reference.
The improvement plan was linked to a three year time table to achieve such goals as the further improvement of the minimum wage and the reduction of the wage gap within the framework of the investigations of the Task Teams.
After some delays in the work of the Task Teams due to a number of reasons, I recently requested them to urgently resume their task as far as phases 2 and 3 of the three year plan are concerned. Following consultations within the Central Chamber of the Public Service Bargaining Council to address the problem areas, it was decided that the Main Task Team would meet for two full days on 26 and 27 July 1995. The issues to be considered by the Main Task Team include progress reports by the Sub-task Teams on important matters such as the grading system/salary structure of the Public Service and the payment of allowances.
In order to promote the proceedings of the Task Teams, I have arranged that international experts from Sweden and the United Kingdom be made available to give advice. I expect their inputs to contribute to the finding of solutions to the identified problem areas and to facilitate the discussions in the Main Task Team and its Sub-task Teams.
Enquiries: Laetitia van Zyl
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