Workers’ hopes of back pay from eThekwini’s salary-benchmarking process are misplaced, union sources say, as organised labour rejects a facilitator’s report on the wage curve.
Sources within the labour movement said the workers had been misinformed about the process and that the expected windfall would not be possible.
Union officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, made the comments following growing tensions with workers, who alleged that the unions had let them down.
The city workers recently embarked on protest, saying they were prepared to take their fight to the Constitutional Court for fair pay and benefits.
The union members said workers were confusing the benchmarking process, which was established to determine whether other metros paid their employees more, with the current process under way to address several issues, including the wage curve.
The source said eThekwini workers were still focused on the benchmarking process, which would not necessarily be implemented and had been overtaken by events.
"The workers believe that there is a windfall they will receive under this process because other metros are paying their workers more and, therefore, they should also be paid more. They believe they will receive back pay because the process has taken too long to implement. Both of those things will not happen.
"Yes, the benchmarking was conducted after the strike in 2024, and it found that some metros were paying their workers more. However, that was not because they were metros; other negotiations had taken place. It was not because the municipality was a Category 10 municipality. That benchmarking process is now 'dead,'" said the union member.
The union member said a key process that could benefit workers had recently been completed between the unions and municipalities under the supervision of a facilitator appointed by the bargaining council.
The member added that a report from the facilitator was released recently, and all the unions are unhappy with it and plan to reject it. The report discussed several issues, including the workers' wage curve.
"The main issue is that it is not mandatory. The municipality could simply say it does not have the money and would not implement it. We cannot negotiate for five years to reach an agreement like that. If the municipality does not have the money, it must apply to be excused; it cannot simply say that it does not have the money to implement the agreement. That is one of the main issues the unions are rejecting. Another issue is that it takes away some of the workers' benefits," the source said.
eThekwini staff members who had been part of the wage parity protest said the unions had not spoken to them about the matter. They said they did not expect to hear from the unions because they no longer trusted them.
"The unions have told us too many lies, and we no longer trust them. That is why we do not expect anything from them about this. Many of us have even left the unions because we simply no longer trust them."
The worker warned that, should it be confirmed that they will not get any financial benefit, they would intensify their fight.
"We have looked at the salaries of employees in other metropolitan municipalities, and there cannot be a difference of thousands of rands in wages. If that is indeed the case, we will continue fighting and intensify our efforts to get what we want," the worker said.
The eThekwini Municipality has previously said it would not address matters concerning its staff members' labour issues through the media.
Queen Mbatha of the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (IMATU) confirmed that the union had received a facilitator's report. "We have received the report. While we are still engaging with the relevant structure about it, we cannot hide the fact that we are rejecting it because it could take away workers' benefits."
She declined to comment further and said a meeting had been scheduled to discuss the issue. She confirmed that discussions on the benchmarking issue had concluded.
Repeated attempts to obtain comment from SAMWU were unsuccessful.