As public sector unions (PSUs) have slammed government over what they termed ‘glaring salary gaps’ between them and politicians, the latter has hit back at civil servants.
Legislators said PSUs should accept and live with the consequences of the decision they made when they signed the collective agreement on the salary review implementation for civil servants.
| Eswatini Observer WhatsApp Channel
The PSUs had accused government of blatant disrespect following reports that politicians, including Cabinet ministers, Members of Parliament (MPs) and members of Emabandla, received hefty salary hikes while ordinary civil servants were given meagre adjustments.
Some of the legislators, who preferred anonymity, said it was unfair for PSUs to attack them as they were not part of the negotiations and had no say in how the salary review would be implemented across sectors or how percentages were allocated to each grade.
The politicians said PSUs were the ones who agreed to Scenario III and signed the collective agreement determining how the review would be paid to civil servants.
They added that if the unions were uncomfortable with the percentage recommended by the consultant, they should have refused the salary review and continued negotiating until they secured an amount that they would be ‘happy’ with.
RELATED | PSUs slam government on salary gaps
The legislators emphasised that they were not the ones who negotiated their own salaries, which were linked to those of civil servants through the Finance Circular. The circular determines the additional percentage that the prime minister receives based on the salary of the highest-paid civil servant, being the secretary to Cabinet.
“What the PSUs are doing is unfair to us because we were not even at the negotiation table. They negotiated for civil servants and agreed on the amount paid as a salary review adjustment and how it was paid,” said one MP.
The MP added that the unions should “live with the consequences of their decisions.”
The lawmaker further noted that some politicians, including tindvuna tetinkhundla and bucopho, were also aggrieved by how the review was implemented, as their allowances were increased while their salaries remained unchanged.
The MP argued that there were glaring discrepancies, noting that they also did not receive allowance increments, but only a salary review.
“We are also confused because some sectors received both a salary review and an increment on their allowances, while we only received a salary increment with our allowances remaining the same,” they said.
They said they also had questions on how bucopho and tindvuna tetinkhundla received increased allowances without salary adjustments, while MPs received higher salaries with no allowance adjustments.
“As far as we know, the increase in allowances should be influenced by improvement in the basic salary. It does not make sense how the allowances of tindvuna and bucopho were increased while their salaries remained the same, especially because there is no explanation, which is what brings the controversy,” said the MP.
Eswatini Observer Press Reader | View Here
