A two-week long strike by National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (NEHAWU) members from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has come to an end, subsequent to both parties having reached and signed wage negotiation agreement on Monday, October 19, 2020.

The two-week long strike started on October 05, 2020 at the NSFAS head offices in Cape Town due to a wage negotiation deadlock between the two parties. Subsequent to weeks of collapsed talks both NSFAS and NEHAWU went back to the negotiation table to work on a wage agreement which will see NSFAS employees who participated in the strike will return to work from Tuesday, October 20, 200, as per agreement by both parties.

NSFAS and NEHAWU reached an agreement to increase the salary budget of the bargaining unit by 4,5% which collectively amounts to R6 296 429.

The increment will be implemented and applied on a sliding scale as follows:

1.   Level 3 – 8: an increase of 6% and a non-recurring once-off amount of R1 457.74

2.   Level 9 – 10: an increase of 3% (three percent); and

3.   Level 11 – 12: an increase of 1% (one percent).

The salary increase will be effected on October 30, 2020 and shall backdated to April 01, 2020.

NSFAS and NEHAWU have fully acknowledged that there is an urgent need to build and maintain relations amongst two partieswhich will be in the best interest of both organisations. A concurrence was reached to utilise and involve the services of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for a relationship building and a pre- salary negotiation workshop before the start of 2021 salary negotiations. Both parties have committed to binding themselves to the workshops before the end of January 2021.

Issued by Nehawu