| Analysis: Public sector wages race ahead of private sector - 2010/07/23 | |
|
News Article: 5876 has been read 209 times. |
|
| Average wages in the public service far outstrip those in the private sector, a fact that has been pinned on the poor handling by the government of labour relations. Reserve Bank research shows that in 2000 the public service paid on average 12.3 percent more than the private sector. Last year, according to Adcorp, the average salary of R7 592 a month in the public service was 31.7 percent higher than in the private sector. Adcorp labour market analyst Loane Sharp said the big rise in public service wages was because "the government's labour relations is in a shambles". He said labour relations in the private sector was a continuous process, but in the government it happened once a year with no real negotiation. The outcome of this was that the threat of industrial action resulted in higher settlements. The government should negotiate well in advance, be prepared for negotiations and have long-term wage deals. Economists.co.za chief economist Mike Schussler said yesterday: "In the last 20 years we have paid the general public service quite well, specifically the guys at the bottom and the top, but not the professionals doing the work. The situation has got worse. "Nobody should have a problem with someone with skills earning a decent salary. I don't disagree that teachers should get better pay. I do have a problem with unskilled workers getting very high pay." Public service wage increases could also be partly attributed to the introduction in 2007 of the occupation specific dispensation (OSD) to better remunerate skilled professionals, such as doctors, nurses and teachers. But the OSD has not been fully implemented and is one of the reasons for rising tension. Independent Labour Caucus chairman and SA Onderwysers Unie (SA Teachers Union) chief executive Chris Klopper, commenting on the disparity, said it was accepted that in the first few years of one's career the public service was better, but after seven years those in the private sector would earn far more than public sector wages. Unions are this week balloting their members on whether to accept the government's offer of a 6.5 percent wage hike and an increase in the housing allowance from R500 to R620 a month. Unions want an 8.6 percent increase and a R1 000 a month housing allowance. Some unions have rejected the offer and have applied to strike. Mugwena Maluleke, the labour negotiator for Cosatu-affiliated public service unions, said the process of consultation was still under way. Leonard Gentle, the director of the International Labour Research and Information Group, said higher public service wages were partly due to greater unionisation. Gentle said government outsourcing of low-paid functions, such as maintenance and street cleaning, meant these jobs were now part of the statistics for the private sector and would thus skew the data. By SAMANTHA ENSLIN-PAYNE |
|
| Source: Business Report | Date: 2010/07/23 |
| Print Article | Previous Page | Home Page | Leads 2 Business | Projects | |