WAGE AGREEMENT ACHIEVES MAJORITY SIGNATURE

WAGE AGREEMENT ACHIEVES MAJORITY SIGNATURE

On Friday, 9 June 2018, the protracted public service wage negotiations eventually reached conclusion when the wage agreement achieved majority signature. Trade unions in the PSCBC representing 65,7% of the unionized public servants support the agreement. NAPTOSA is one of the signatories.

In terms of the agreement the salary adjustment with effect from 1 April 2018 will be as follows:
• Public Service Act salary levels 1-7 = 7%
• Public Service Act salary levels 8-10 = 6,5%
• Public Service Act salary levels 11-12 = 6%

The adjustment of the salary scales of Educators/lecturers and Education Therapists/Psychologists/Counsellors will naturally be more complex due to the fact that their salary scales are not similar to those of Public Service Act personnel. A task team of the ELRC will address the cost-of-living adjustments in education as a matter of urgency. NAPTOSA will therefore only publish the adjusted salary scales once clarity has been obtained from the DBE and the DPSA with regard to the correct cut-off notches for the different percentages.

Meanwhile the draft salary scales for Public Service Act personnel accompany this News Flash.

According to the employer they hope to effect the cost-of-living back pay before the end of June 2018.

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GEPF : Child's pensions introduced from 1 June 2018

On 27 June 2017, the PSCBC concluded Resolution 1 of 2017 on certain changes to the pension benefits of members of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF). One of these changes pertained to the replacement of the Orphan’s Pension with a Child’s Pension.

The changes, however, could not be implemented immediately, because it required further processes of legislative and pension rule amendments. The GEPF Board of Trustees has now approved the introduction of the  Child’s Pension benefit with effect from 01 June 2018.

How does the Child’s Pension differ from the Orphan’s Pension?

• The Orphan’s Pension was only payable if a GEPF member or pensioner died and there was no surviving parent (natural or adoptive) to take care of the eligible child/children. The Child’s Pension does not require for both parents to have passed away in order for the child to qualify for the pension.
• Under the provisions of the Orphan’s Pension children could only qualify up to the age of 18 years of age, and up to the age of 22 years if still a full-time student. In terms of the Child’s Pension the pension is payable up to the age 22 years regardless of whether the child is a student or not, and qualifying disabled children will also receive the Child’s Pension regardless of their age.
• Under the Orphan’s Pension the maximum benefit that a child could qualify for was 10% of the monthly pension of the member. This is now increased to a maximum of 25% by the Child’s Pension, to be reduced proportionally if there are more than 4 qualifying children (and the spouse’s pension is not payable) or more than 2 qualifying children (where the spouse’s pension is payable - i.e. spouse qualifies for 50% or 75% depending on choice exercised by member).

 According to the GEPF, children currently receiving the Orphan’s Pension have automatically been converted to the Child’s Pension.

 For further information please consult the GEPF or your provincial office.

NAPTOSA laments over 2018/2019 DBE's budget speech - 9 May 2019

THE 2018/2019 DEPARTMENT OF BASIC EDUCATION (DBE) BUDGET SPEECH – 9 MAY 2018
NAPTOSA is of the view that the 2018-19 Department of Basic Education’s budget speech is a missed opportunity for South Africa to fulfil its commitment to realise government’s mandate to make access, redress, equality, efficiency, inclusivity and quality educational opportunities a reality. NAPTOSA president questioned if indeed government and the DBE is truly committed to realising UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goal 4 in particular.
Those who cannot speak for themselves, the children and teachers of South Africa, are paying the price of a government that allowed state looting under its watch. Mr Ntantala lamented the fact that the burden will once again fall on the teacher to do more with less.
NAPTOSA acknowledges that tough fiscal trade-offs needed to be made to strengthen the economy, but cuts in education is short-sighted. Children and teachers are subjected to deplorable conditions of learning and teaching. Have we forgotten that it was grade R learners who have paid with their lives, because of infrastructure deficiencies? “This budget trade-off will only result in the delivery of poor quality service by the department to our educators”, said Mr Ntantala. “When the sun was still shining on the department and education enjoyed substantive budget allocations, the department failed to seize the opportunity and address problems faced by the education system of our country”.

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2018 wage negotiations update (4 May 2018)

Parties to the PSCBC met on 3 and 4 May 2018 where the long-awaited revised offer of the Employer was tabled.

The offer on the salary increases for the next three years is still the same as was offered in January 2018, albeit in a different format As far as the equalisation of pay progression and the de-linking of the housing allowance (i.e. where both spouses who work for the public service could qualify for the allowance) are concerned, the proposal is for staggered/delayed implementation.

The salient parts of the proposed offer are as follows:

SALARY INCREASES for the next 3 years:
•Year 1 (1 April 2018)
- Salary levels 1 - 7 = 7% (maximum of salary level 7 comparable to Educator salary notch 93)
- Salary levels 8 - 10 = 6,5% (maximum of salary level 10 comparable to Educator salary notch 155)
- Salary levels 11 and 12 = 6% (maximum of salary level 12 comparable to Educator salary notch 29 of inclusive package)

•Years 2 (1 April 2019) and 3 (1 April 2020)
- Salary levels 1- 7 = Projected CPI + 1%
- Salary levels 8 - 10 = Projected CPI + 0,5%
- Salary levels 11 and 12 = Projected CPI

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