As the PSA strike begins, the hospital union holds public wage protests

Nursing and state hospital employees affiliated with the Health and Other Services Personnel Trade Union of SA (Hospersa) protested the deadlock in public sector wage negotiations on Thursday.

This comes as the Public Servants Association (PSA), which has 235 000 members, began its strike in the public sector with several marches on Thursday. The government insisted that the PSA strike would be limited to lunchtime pickets and would not cause any disruptions to public services.

On Thursday morning, there were reports of disruptions at Home Affairs offices and border posts, but News24 was unable to confirm the incidents.

Members of Hospersa had taken to the streets in Free State and Gauteng.

According to Hospersa, which has 50 000 members, the 2022/23 wage negotiations were marred by the government’s decision to go against the provisions of the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) when a 3% wage increase was unilaterally implemented in the public sector in accordance with Section 5 of the Public Service Act.

It said, “the fight against the assault on collective bargaining is paramount to the fight for improved salaries and conditions of service in the present, as well as for posterity. Hospersa believes that the latter cannot happen without the former, and therefore, by intentionally undermining the processes and institution of collective bargaining, the employer is by extension undermining the welfare of its own employees”.

According to the statement, while the union was not striking, Hospersa intended to persuade the employer to return to the negotiating table in a genuine attempt to resolve the dispute.

“Hospersa will continuously engage its members on the importance of safeguarding collective bargaining and ensuring that collective bargaining structures are kept in place in advancing worker rights, conditions of service, and benefits”. According to the statement, the planned strike is the result of unprecedented frustration among public employees.

Hospersa said its members had already been threatened with disciplinary action if they went on strike, but the government “happily capitulates to state-owned entity workers” by giving them raises.

On Thursday morning, PSA members marched in Bloemfontein and Pretoria, among other places. The government announced on Thursday that if public servants are not at their posts during working hours, the no-work, no-pay principle will be applied.