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South Africa Increases Offer to Public Service Union

   VOA News 13 August 2010
   Thousands  of  public servants march to Parliament in Cape Town during
   their one-day strike to press for better salaries, 10 Aug 2010

Photo: SAPA/N. Engelbrecht

   Thousands  of  public servants march to Parliament in Cape Town during
   their one-day strike to press for better salaries, 10 Aug 2010

   The  South African government has increased its offer to more than one
   million public service workers who are threatening to strike.
   Following   negotiations  with  union  representatives  Thursday,  the
   government  increased  its monthly housing allowance offer to $95 from
   about  $87.  But the government did not change its pay raise offer of
   7 percent.
   The  unions  are demanding a pay raise of 8.6 percent, more than twice
   the rate of inflation, in addition to a higher housing allowance.
   On  Tuesday,  civil  service  workers staged a one-day strike and held
   marches in Cape Town and Pretoria.
   Officials say the strike affected schools and public offices, although
   essential  services  such  as  police  and  hospitals  ran  on reduced
   staffing.
   Three  years  ago,  public workers staged a crippling strike that shut
   down  many  schools  and forced some hospitals to operate with minimal
   staff for several weeks.

   Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.

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