Issued by: Department of Public Service and Administration
4 June 2002
Pretoria: Today, parties at the Public Service Co-ordination Bargain Council (PSCBC) signed the resolution on wage increase for the financial year 2002-2003.
The resolution provides for the following:
The increase will be effective from 01 July 2002.
Signing this resolution is in keeping with the multi-term agreement reached last year. The 2001 multi-agreement provided for maximum increase of 7,5%.
However parties taking into account the food prices, increase in the interest rates and other economic factors a higher percentage increase was deemed imperative. These economic factors i.e. food prices have negatively affected the economy. It is therefore envisaged that the above increase will bring a financial relief to public servants.
This reflects a further commitment to building sound labour relations and a stable public service. It has further created positive perspective on the multi-term agreement.
While there was a general scepticism on multi-year agreements, the past two years have shown that if multi-term agreements are properly managed, they lead to positive results.
The parties to the PSCBC acknowledge the complex issues facing the public service and the perceived slow transformation process. It is believed that the speedy resolution of this wage agreement demonstrates the urgency felt by parties in addressing the difficulties in the public service. Furthermore this current package will raise the morale of the public servants and will motivate public servants to play a major role in improving service delivery.
At this stage all parties are confident that, through the current spirit of goodwill, we will jointly move forward in accelerating the speed of public service transformation and improvement in the quality of service delivery.
Media contacts: Department of Public Service and Administration Director Media Liaison: Ms Tembela Kulu @ 082 497 3220 or (012) 314 7509.