Campaigns Bulletin : Wage negotiations 2000

Item

Title
Campaigns Bulletin : Wage negotiations 2000
Creator
Date Issued
Apr-00
Description
It is sad how the promises of a better life for all made by the government means so little for workers. Cosatu and Samwu mobilised our forces to ensure a victory for the ANC in the national and local government elections. Despite the fact that workers have put MPs into parliament and councillors into local government councils, we have yet to see any real benefit for workers. The 3rd and final round of negotiations delivered a big disappointment for Samwu. Once again we went into negotiations with high hopes of persuading Saiga to implement decent wage increases. Samwu's position of R250 or 10% for workers earning less than R6 700 per month was very reasonable. Because we said that those earning more than R13 700 should get a 7% increase, this meant that the total cost to councils was only 9%, which is very affordable. Saiga moved its position in negotiations by 1%. They also tried to get us to give up our demand for a R250 increase by offering a minimum wage of R1600. As we know, most workers are earning more than that. Workers earning R1600 Saiga's 5% will mean a R80 increase. This is less than councillor's get for attending one meeting! Although the negotiators tried everything to try to reach a settlement, Saiga frustrated us at every turn.
Subject
Format
pdf
Language
English, Zulu, seSotho and Afrikaans
Type
text
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/10962/113558
Archive
Cory Library for Humanitites Research
Provenance
The item is held at the Cory Library for Humanities Research, Rhodes University, on behalf of the Labour Research Service
Extent
8 pages
Rights
South African Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU)
Rights Holder
South African Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU)
Use/re-use
The materials are made available explicitly for research and educational purposes. Any use of these materials must be cleared with the Labour Research Service.

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