NEGOTIATIONS over thousands of SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) employees’ demands for a 10% salary increase will resume next week after the entity refused to accede to them.
The unions representing Sassa's nearly 9 000 unionised employees are demanding salary increases of consumer price index (CPI) plus 5%, comprehensive danger insurance for staff to shield staff from the risks they face at social grants pay points and at the healthcare facilities where they work.
Last month, Statistics SA announced that annual CPI was 4.9% in June.
Representatives of Sassa employees have tabled their demands at the agency’s national bargaining forum.
The Public Servants’ Association (PSA) and the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union represent 6 088 and 2 786 of the 8 874 Sassa employees, respectively.
Employees want Sassa to find comprehensive danger insurance for all staff when they work in areas that expose them to risks at pay points and healthcare centres.
They also want three-day leave for religious observance as well as five-day disaster leave, which should be granted depending on the magnitude of the catastrophe.
According to the employees’ list of demands, they also want Sassa to provide child care and breastfeeding facilities in all the agency’s offices.
In their explanation, the PSA complained that after the outbreak of Covid-19 elderly employees were exiting the public service and being replaced by a generation of childbearing age.
”This arrangement gives parents peace of mind knowing their little ones are taken good care of. This also assists in instances when the little one is sick, parents, instead of taking leave, will be able to check on their little ones during their break times,” the union argued.
In its response to its employees’ CPI plus 5% salary increase demand, Sassa indicated it was awaiting the conclusion of the recently signed public service wage deal at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council, which saw the majority of unions accepting the government’s offer of a once-off non-pensionable cash allowance between R1 200 and R1 700 to be implemented no later that September 15.
Public servants will also receive a 1.5% pensionable increase whose date of implementation will be announced as soon as possible.
Sassa has also stated a danger allowance already exists in the public service and that the parties should discuss the need to extend it to the agency’s employees.
On the provision of childcare and breastfeeding facilities in all its offices, Sassa said there were no funds in its current baseline budget allocation for this demand.
”This will be difficult for Sassa to fund from its current baseline allocation,” the agency said.
The PSA’s Reuben Maleka told Independent Media yesterday the union had tabled its demands but the employer provided a response which did not accede to its demands.
”We wrote to the chairperson of the bargaining forum to set up a meeting for commencement of negotiations. The meeting has been scheduled for August 13,” he said.
Political Bureau