UCT union declares dispute
The Employees Union at UCT has declared a dispute with UCT Management over salary increases.
In October last year UCT Management offered between 6 and 7% increases depending on pay class but a revised offer of between 4.8% and 5.2% was received by the union in December (see table below).
|
UCT Management offer 14 October 2015 |
UCT Management offer 21 December 2015 |
|
Payclass 6 : 6.0% |
Payclass 6 : 5.2% |
|
Payclass 7 : 7.0% |
Payclass 7 : 5.2% |
|
Payclass 8: 6.5% |
Payclass 8: 5.2% |
|
Payclass 9 : 6.5% |
Payclass 9 : 5.2% |
|
Payclass 10: 6.5% |
Payclass 10: 5.0% |
|
Payclass 11: 6.0% |
Payclass 11: 4.9% |
|
Payclass 12 : 6.0% |
Payclass 12 : 4.8% |
The union includes mainly support staff such as IT staff and librarians. They are essential to the everyday running of the university.
The union is calling for the original offer to be reinstated, which the UCT Management has said it is “unable to agree to”.
The union and UCT management have to convene a meeting within five days. The union said in a statement to members that, “In the event that no agreement or compromise is possible the matter will be referred to the CCMA.”
The lower offer comes following months of protests at UCT that led to a 0% increase in fees.
UCT's head of media liaison, Elijah Moholola, told GroundUp that the university's budget was "inevitably impacted upon" by the 0% fee increase, its commitment to in-source workers and "the reduction in government subsidies." As a result, he explained, negotiations with the Employees Union had to be reopened.
"Management is committed to concluding the negotiation process as soon as possible," Moholola said.
This story was updated after publication with Elijah Moholola's comment.
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