Salary negotiations resume
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Wednesday April 19, 2017 16:23
The salary negotiations resumed at 2pm after they were postponed last Wednesday to allow the PSBC Secretariat to make logistical arrangements, which were disturbed by a Court case seeking to interdict the meeting scheduled for April 12.
The meeting was postponed due to uncertainties caused by a case in which Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) applied to block the meeting, citing that the Botswana Federation of Public Private Parastatals Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) had not complied with the requirements of the Council.
On Tuesday afternoon before the meeting, both parties were guarded when contacted for comment about the agenda of the meeting.
“The meeting is going ahead today to continue the 2016/17 salary negotiations. At this time, there is nothing much we can share with you,” BOFEPUSU deputy secretary, Ketlhalefile Motshegwa said in a telephone interview.
Motshegwa also said the 2017/18 salary talks will resume immediately when the 2016/17 ones had been concluded.
The general secretary of the PSBC, Willard Ulaula confirmed that the scheduled meeting of the PSBC went ahead as planned. However, he could not be drawn to share further details of the meeting.
“The special meeting of the PSBC is convening today. But I am not in a position to disclose the details of the meeting now,” Ulaula said.
Yesterday’s PSBC meeting for salary talks put to an end questions as to whether the negotiations would ever continue, especially after several litigations between the employer and BOFEPUSU over Government’s unilateral decision to increase salaries by three percent had stalled the negotiations.
It is expected that BOFEPUSU will reinstate their 10.5% salary increase, while Government had already awarded a three percent, which was recently nullified by Gaborone High Court.