The march will take place from Paradise Hall, in Phahameng, Bloemfontein. This comes on the heels of PSA, together with other workers’ unions, holding various picketings from 3 November till 9 November 2022 at different places in the city. 

Acting Minister of the Department of Public Service and Administration, Thulas Nxesi, intends to invoke Section 5 of the Public Service Act to implement a 3% wage increase in the public service instead of the 10% that unions had asked for.

PSA’s acting provincial manager, Clement Fandie, says they hope that the march will send a strong message to the government that the way they are handling collective bargaining is not right. 

"We also want to send a message that if the government wants to continue and implement the wage increase unitarily, this is one of the contracts that the workers will not be able to tolerate going forward," he adds. 

ALSO READ: Picketing for wage increase continues in Bloemfontein - WATCH

Fandie states that one of the purposes of the march is to disrupt government services. At one of the picketings held at the Free State's foremost trauma hospital, the Pelonomi Hospital, members of the National, Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) expressed that the 3% wage increase the government wants to offer is "an insult".

Nehawu’s secretary at Pelonomi Hospital, Thabo Nkomo, said people must remember that the last time they had an increase was in 2017. 

"Currently, the employer is offering us 3%. As employees, we feel that this offer is an insult." He adds that the cash gratuity that the employer wants to offer is not even taxable. The government still owes public employees 2020 salary increases, according to a poster promoting the march.

ALSO READ:  Trade union stands up against government’s wage offer

Wally Steyn, who works at the Pelonomi Hospital for the PSA, stated that they are very dissatisfied with the 3% increase the employer wants to give them. "As time goes on, leading up to the 10th [of November], more people will join us because people are tired. Life is tough out here. 3% means absolutely nothing to us."

The SABC previously reported that trade unions may accept the government's current 3% pay increase offer, but only if the government meets their members' conditions.

The government was forced to go back to the drawing table after talks with the Public Service Co-Ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) failed. Unions have threatened strike action if their demands are not met. Unions say members will now accept the 3% offer, provided the R1000 bonus incentive provided by the government is included in their total package after 31 March 2023.

Unions threatened strike action after talks with the government failed last week. They had initially demanded a 10% salary increase and later reduced it to 6.5%. 

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