The Union has rejected the employer’s offer of a 1.39% pay hike saying it’s an insult to its members who helped SARS exceed its collection target in the previous year.
With taxpayers reporting glitches and frustration at the start of the tax season, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehwau) said its members would continue withholding their services at the South African Revenue Services (SARS) after wage negotiations deadlocked.
The union has rejected the employer’s offer of a 1.39% pay hike saying it was an insult to its members who helped SARS exceed its collection target in the previous year.
Workers affiliated with Nehawu and the Public Servants Association sought to resume their strike – which began in May.
The workers demand a 12% wage hike – among others.
Nehawu’s national spokesperson Lwazi Nkolonzi said SARS engaged unions during the full-blown strike in May and made the revised offer of 1.39% – which received a cold response from workers.
“In their view, 1.39% is an insult and it’s way below the current inflation rate. They have rejected that and hence we are in this position of recommencing the strike again.”
Nkolonzi said SARS left them no choice but to take the wage battle to the street after it failed to give what he said was a concrete and tangible offer.
He said their demands remain unchanged.
“With salaries, they are just using the CPI [consumer price index] of 2021 of 5% plus 7% across the board for all employees”.
SARS has previously said it tried to find common ground with the striking workers but there was no movement in a positive direction.
Source: EWN
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