SACP stands in solidarity with public service workers, calls on the government to refrain from undermining collective bargaining

Friday 11 November 2022: The South African Communist Party (SACP) stands in solidarity with public service workers who embarked on strike action on Thursday 10 November 2022. The SACP congratulates the workers who seek unity in pursuit of common demands, including safeguarding collective bargaining.

The SACP vehemently disagrees with the manner in which the government is handling the public service negotiations. In particular, the government must refrain from undermining collective bargaining, including through the use of the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). The government has not given the workers any say in deciding the content and direction of the MTBPS.

Instead of unilaterally implementing below inflation wage adjustments using the MTBPS, the government must engage in collective bargaining in good faith, to seek consensus with public service unions on an offer that the workers can accept. It is important to appreciate this against the background of the government having intransigently reneged from implementing the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council Resolution 1 of 2018. The government did NOT implement wage increases in the third year of the 2018 public service collective bargaining agreement.

Coming out of its 15^th National Congress, the SACP declared to build a powerful, socialist movement of the workers and poor. The SACP urges the workers to be actively involved in building this revolutionary unity of the working-class broadly understood, including the unity of workers across union and federation affiliation in the public service and the economy at large.