UNIONS TO DEMAND 19.9% COLA

MANZINI – Government has not won in silencing civil servants over CoLA as the PSAs are intending to demand a staggering 19.9 per cent.

The public sector associations (PSAs) have made it known that they want government to resume negotiations so badly and they intend to demand a cost of living adjustment (CoLA) for three financial years (2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/29).

The issue of demanding  CoLA for the three financial years is contained in a statement which was issued by the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Secretary General, Sikelela Dlamini, on Monday.

Teachers

The statement was meant to update teachers on current societal and trade union issues affecting them and other civil servants, which were discussed during the PSAs leaders’ meeting which was held at SNAT Centre on Monday.

The 19.9 per cent is a sum of 7.85 per cent demand of the financial 2017/18, 6.55 per cent which was tabled by the unions during the 2018/19 fiscal year and an estimated 5.5 per cent for the current financial year. However, they had not yet tabled this financial year’s demand but they had mentioned before that it would be not less than the 5.5 per cent, which is last year’s average inflation rate.

In the statement, the main issue was the civil servants’ big march to deliver petitions to different government departments, which is scheduled for Wednesday next week. On this issue, the secretary general of the teachers’ union stated clearly that at the top of their agenda was the issue of the unceremonious suspension of the joint negotiation forum (JNF) by government.

In that regard, he said the burning issue which they want government to raise was the commissioning of the negotiations because they want to table the demand for the current financial year; 2019/20 and finalise CoLA for 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years.

He said there were other issues such as appeals for the 2016 salary review, allowances and negotiations framework, which were pending at the round table. However, he said the CoLA issue was a thorn in the flesh of their members and it would be a priority when the negotiations resume.

Dlamini added that as PSAs, they still await the judgment by the Industrial Court of Eswatini to be issued by Judge President Sifiso Nsibande on CoLA 2017/2018, a case that was lengthily argued and concluded five weeks ago.
In this matter, PSAs first demanded 9.15 per cent CoLA but slashed the demand to 7.85 per cent after government offered them zero per cent.

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