Unions registered with the Metals and Engineering Industry Bargaining Council (MEIBC) have pledged to take up SEIFSA`s proposal to postpone negotiations until 2020 and extend the terms of the current main agreement to their respective members across the country until 30 June 2021. In its opposition documents, the government stated that the agreement was not valid because it had not been approved by cabinet, including anomalies. But the unions argued that the employer`s challenge was that they were negotiating with various means to save money to raise money from wage increases, and now that the government had not, it wanted workers to bear the main burden of their challenge. The government said it had reached the agreement in 2018, partly out of fear of negative publicity and the possibility of work disturbances. JOHANNESBURG – Lawyers representing the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) argued Wednesday that the 2018 collective agreement had obtained the necessary approvals before being signed. In your opinion in support of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu), the Union for Civil Rights of Police and Prisons (Popcru) and the Democratic Organization of South Africa (Denosa), lawyer Ngwako Maenetje, Lawyer Ngwako Maenetje argued that the government could not be allowed to depart from the agreement because it did not act in time when it acknowledged that the collective agreement did not comply with the law. This was announced by the Minister of Finance and Public Service, Dr. Nigel Clarke, today (12 September) at a signing ceremony at the Ministry of Finance. “With the signing of this agreement, approximately 80% of public service employees are now covered by a four-year collective agreement. This led to months of discussions with the Jamaican Medical Association, conducted in an atmosphere of transparency and mutual respect,” said the Minister of Finance. Even if the court finds that the agreement is not valid, it has a wide margin of appreciation, given the context in which this agreement was reached and the behaviour of the cabinet and ministers, that the right way is not to let the government go. And also the importance of collective bargaining,” Maenetje said. The Jamaican government and the Jamaican Nurses Association (NAJ) have reached a wage agreement. The Minister commended the contributions of Minister Christopher Tufton and Minister Fayval Williams to the success of the negotiations.
The proposal to overturn the current main agreement was presented last week at a meeting of the MEIBC management committee and was duly taken into account by all unions.