Public sector workers face 'big changes'

Godfrey Oliphant. Image: Mineral Resources

"Following months of negativity resulting from wage negotiations‚ SA must now consider the state of labour relations in the government‚ which‚ representing 36% of total union membership in the country‚ faces huge changes in a drive towards professionalism‚" he said.

Oliphant was speaking at the start of the third Biennial Labour Relations Conference for the Public Service‚ hosted by the Public Service Commission and the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) in Pretoria.

The three-day conference will examine the state of labour relations in the public service‚ including collective bargaining and forthcoming changes such as those contained in the Public Administration Management Bill.

Professionalism needed

The yet-to-be-passed bill aims to revamp public service architecture to bring efficiency across all three spheres of government‚ to professionalise public servants through mandatory training and to bar officials from doing business with the state.

Oliphant said the recent downward revision of SA's expected economic growth rate - to 2% - made state efficiency even more pressing as the public service played its role in stimulating job creation.

Speaking at the opening of the conference‚ Independent Labour Caucus (ILC) chairman Basil Manuel said the public service bill was necessary as the three spheres of government can no longer afford to work in individual silos.

The ILC was concerned‚ however‚ that some arrangements to standardise methods across the spheres of government had not been spelt out too clearly.

Manuel said it was encouraging that the collective-bargaining structure would remain unchanged‚ although the current system in some cases led to collective agreements not being implemented even after bargaining with blood‚ sweat and tears.

Oliphant said more than 1m out of 1.6m public servants were unionised‚ in 16 unions across five bargaining councils. "This pointed to the benefits of collective bargaining both for union members and for the public service," he added.