With talk in the air about Public workers wage negotiations, the joint Unions have sent out a release indicating their desire for the process to be completed in the shortest possible time.
This, according to a release, is to avert lengthy retroactive periods and large payments from incurring.
REPORT:
The joint release is the production of the Public Workers union and the Technical and Allied Workers Union relating to negotiations covering the period 2023 to 2025, for which proposals by the Unions were communicated to the Government 22nd September last year.
The Government, by way of its negotiating team, sent counterproposals and informing of its intent to have joint negotiations with all unions and uniformed staff associations (police and prison) together, following which parties met in the first session of negotiations on December 14, last year.
It’s our understanding that the Unions proposed 8% for 2023, 8% (2024) and 9% for 2025, a 25% rise in wage increases over the 3-year period.
The counter-proposal by the Government’s Negotiating Team speaks to 4% for 2023, 2% (2024) and 2% for 2025, an 8% rise in salaries over a 3-year period.
The Joint Negotiating Team rejected this offer, which it says when considering “the hard-hitting effects of galloping inflation and imminent increases in NIS deductions, among other things”.
In an update on the state of process, the Public Workers Union (PWU) did inform their membership that since the start of the engagement with the Government’s Negotiating Team (GNT) there have been three postponements of meetings by the GNT for various reasons and that the last actualized meeting was on the 14th of last month.
For the avoidance of doubt the PWU says the Joint Negotiating Team has not signed any agreement concerning increases for the period 2023 to 2025.
