They embarked on a nationwide strike today, to amplify their rejection of government’s 3% wage increase offer.
The industrial action has affected services at some public facilities.
PSA leaders handed over their memorandum of demands to National Treasury on Thursday afternoon. Workers say the government still owes them their 2020 salary increase.
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In some parts of Gauteng, it was business as usual while in others the PSA national strike interrupted public services.
In the nation’s capital, workers marched to the National Treasury, where they handed over a memorandum of demands to a department’s representative.
The striking workers also accuse government of being arrogant.
PSA President Lufuno Mulaudzi says, “We are dealing with a very, very arrogant government. When they came to power in 1994, they said they are a government that listens to people. They said they are government of the people. Are you seeing them as the government of the people? No!”
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Workers are demanding a 10% increase across the board.
In Durban, Hospersa union members came out in support of their sister union, the PSA.
The union’s general secretary, Waheen Hoosen, says government’s unilateral decision to implement a three percent wage hike is an insult to public servants.
“They have broken down all the trust. I mean the trust was already broken down in 2020, when they didn’t implement the last leg of the three-year agreement. The public sector employees received below inflation increases for the last two years. This is going on to be the third year. We cannot and what we are saying is enough is enough.”
In the Northern Cape, PSA members handed over a memorandum to the provincial premier’s office.
Meanwhile, services at the Beitbridge Border Post and the OR Tambo International Airport were largely uninterrupted.
