A STRIKE by public servants is on the cards - if government fails to meet workers' demands.
The workers have rejected the latest wage offer on the basis that salaries for public sector workers had not increased in three years.
The Public Service Association (PSA) said its members were ready to go to the streets to show their dissatisfaction.
The government's wage offer of 3% plus an extension of a monthly R1 000 cash gratuity through to March has been described as an insult. The workers have demanded 8%.
PSA general manager Reuben Maleka said they were still willing to speak to the employer, though all necessary processes to organise a strike had been followed.
He said the main issue for workers was the cash gratuity that would end on 31 March.
"Our members have rejected it because the cost of living is high, and affordability does not end in March.
"They are asking: ‘what then happens subsequent to 31 March?'"
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Government workers received no increase in 2020, and 1,5% in 2021. The government offered 1,5% again in 2022 before unions negotiated it up to 3% in the latest round of talks.
"The offer was rejected by the majority members of PSA. That calls for us to go back to the table or streets," said Maleka.
The no or little increase came after National Treasury committed to cutting the country's public wage bill.
PSA, which has about 235 000 members, is not the only union demanding better pay for workers.
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The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) also announced that it was ready to take to the streets.
The union is demanding a 12% wage increase from employers in the motor sector, who have offered between 3% and 4%.
Numsa said it was waiting for a strike certificate to be issued.
And, the strike is expected to have a huge impact on the automotive sector.
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) is demanding a 10% increase in wages, and embarked on a protest at the Union Buildings on Tuesday, 27 September.
