ESWATINI PUBLIC SERVICE UNIONS HAVE NEGOTIATED 4% COLA FOR PUBLIC SERVICE WORKERS

 

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Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze

The Eswatini public service workers represented by the Public Service Union (PSUs) have negotiated a 4% COLA for all public service workers that include health workers in public facilities, educators in public schools and workers in government offices around the country who service the public.

The PSUs are made up of the following public services trade union, the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), the Swaziland National Government Accountants Personnel (SNAGAP), the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) and the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU).

The 4% settlement came after intense negotiations between the parties wherein the PSUs had initially made a demand for 7.25% COLA while government had initially made an offer of 3% to the PSUs.

This wage settlement ,while serving as a relief to public service workers who have lately had their wages supressed through receiving perennial below inflation increases in their salaries, still falls slightly below the inflation levels. The annual inflation for the 2023/24 financial year was reported to be 4.7% by the Central Bank of Eswatini while the annual inflation for the 2022/2023 financial year was placed had been averaged at 5%. Public Service Workers had also received 4% COLA in the previous year of 2022/2023.

Explaining the negotiations process to SNAT members on their The SNAT Platform on Facebook President Mbongwa Dlamini praised the negotiations process with the government who he described to have negotiated in good faith in this round of negotiations. He further explained that what guided them as negotiators was to remove the issue of COLA from being a distraction as PSUs as they want to focus on the salary review and job evaluation exercise.

 The salary review and job evaluation exercise for the public service has finally been commissioned with the appointment of the service provider, the Emergence Growth Consultancy Company (From South Africa) who will work with a local partner, Umelusi Consultancy to conduct the exercise.

The workers expect to receive the COLA backdated to April 2024 when they receive their salaries for July 2024.