South African municipal workers negotiating annual pay rises have reduced their demands to 11.5% from 15% but have made no “meaningful progress” in resolving an impasse with management, a major public sector union said on Monday.

The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) said public sector bosses were sticking at their previous offer of 4.5%, a shade lower than inflation at 6.1% in April.

SAMWU claims more than 200 000 members, most of them water, sanitation and refuse workers.

In its budget in February, the Treasury allowed for a wage increase of only 5% for public servants, adding that a huge state salary bill was crowding out investment in infrastructure and other key productive sectors.

Wage negotiations tend to last several weeks in a mid-year bargaining session known as “strike season”, with unions often downing tools to back their demands, disrupting mine production and also hitting services in state hospitals and schools.

A further round of talks between SAMWU and local government officials are due on June 13 and 14.

Source: Reuters