Trust issues threaten Bargaining Council

Mmegi Editor | Tuesday May 20, 2014 12:29

Morupisi is also reported to have ruled out the prospects of backdating any review eventually hammered out between the two parties. It should be remembered that on April 6, government unilaterally increased civil servants’ salaries by four percent across the board, explaining that the review was needed to adhere to the financial year, which started on April 1.

While seemingly innocuous, these developments emphatically underline the apple of discontent in the relationship between government and its workers over the years.  In a word: trust.

The unions are inherently suspicious of their employer and see sinister plots and schemes in each move, while the Executive is equally mistrustful of unions whom it believes are opposition political offshoots. This atmosphere of cynicism between the two parties is the major reason wage negotiations between government and unions have deteriorated over the years, even before the “Mother of all Strikes” in 2011.

Hanging over the relationship, since 2008, has also been the downturn in the country’s economic performance, which has whittled away the space available for compromise between the two parties.

Unfortunately for him, the economic downturn coincided with Ian Khama’s ascension to the presidency, with his subsequent dismissal of wage demands only confirming the unions’ negative preconceptions of him as a “hard man”.

While he was not to blame for the recession, Khama’s arrival brought the trust issues between the two sides into stark relief, as could be seen in his engagement of the public service unions during the 2011 strike.

Whatever Khama’s views were of the unions, these have not been helped by the main public service federation publicly aligning itself with the opposition political parties and vowing its allegiance.

When Morupisi’s remarks last Thursday are read in light of these trust issues, it is clear that the latest PSBC meetings are simply to test-drive the Council and its processes, possibly in anticipation of the 2015/16 round of negotiations.

With back-pay ruled out, the four percent already awarded and the unions’ court case against the unilateral review already dismissed, unions have their backs against the wall.

Without the pressure of a wage review, the two parties should use these meetings to work on the trust issues between them. With a workforce of 129,947, civil service are the backbone of most families in Botswana, the main interface for all service delivery and the drivers of demand in the economy.

                                                            Today’s thought

“We are optimistic that this is something we shall overcome to create a harmonious working environment for every public service employee.”

 

                                                           - Carter Morupisi