Union slams UCT over wage offer

The UCT Employees Union has slammed management for “reneging” on a wage increase offer it had made to staff in negotiations.

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Cape Town - The UCT Employees Union has slammed management for “reneging” on a wage increase offer it had made to staff in negotiations.

It has since forced the often beleaguered institution to backtrack, the EU said. It has claimed victory. And it says it is not the first time UCT management has reneged on an agreement.

Last year vice-chancellor Max Price assured students in debt they would not be academically excluded in 2016. But last week the university announced students with debt of up to R10 000 had until March 4 to pay or forfeit registration for the 2016 academic year.

The largest union at UCT, the EU has taken management to task after achieving a “significant victory” in a wage dispute.

The union announced it had won a wage dispute, to benefit all professional, administrative and support services (PASS) staff.

In a statement it said that during negotiations with management, UCT “reneged on an offer” put on the table in October.

This after student protests against fee hikes and the university’s decision to insource contracted service providers resulted in additional costs.

“While members of the EU were sympathetic to the plight of their outsourced fellow workers and students struggling to pay fees, they felt short-changed, undervalued and insulted by the new offer,” the statement reads.

UCT management had proposed a 6.5 and 7 percent increase for certain pay classes which the EU had fought for on October 14 last year.

However, less than two months later, on December 3, UCT management lowered the proposal to 5 percent, before making a new proposal of 6 percent earlier this month.

“Many PASS staff expressed outrage at being forced to contribute to solving the university’s budget pressures, while they too are battling to make ends meet.

“In consultation with staff, the EU demanded management return to the original offer made in October 2015. A majority poll showed that the union members were prepared to strike if management did not agree to this,” the statement reads.

EU member Yasmin Fazel-Ellahi said months of negotiations followed after UCT management had made various “unacceptable counter-offers”, but EU members had stood firm.

“The union eventually declared a dispute with management in January and subsequently referred the matter to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

“At the eleventh hour on Tuesday, management came to the table with the original October offer. The EU has stood firm in their rejection of management’s attempts to make UCT staff pay for their decisions, without consultation.

“Our victory is not that staff have won massive salary increases.

“This is because the increases barely keep pace with inflation.

“But that EU members stood together on a matter of principle, and would not back down,” EU representative Fazel-Ellahi said on Thursday.

UCT spokesperson Patricia Lucas said management’s dealings with all of the unions with regard to salary increases have been transparent.

“Particularly with regards to the financial situation in which the University of Cape Town found itself, and the challenges and numerous factors which needed to be considered on the broader issue of sustainability for the university as a whole.

“UCT has always been cognisant of the challenges faced by staff and the changing external environment in relation to protest action, and has taken these into account in making the decisions around salary increases,” Lucas said.

carlo.petersen@inl.co.za

@carlo_petersen

Cape Times