Africa-Press – South-Africa. Academic staff at the University of Cape Town (UCT) have agreed to accept a 6% wage increase, reportedly being proposed by the university, after threatening to strike last week.
But the institution has yet to confirm what it is offering staff, saying it is upholding confidentiality while engagements with unions are underway.
The Academic Union, which represents the majority of academic staff at the institution, has been locked in wage negotiations since last year. A majority of union members rejected an offer of a 3% increase.
The union demanded a 6% salary increase.
In a vote taken by the union’s members last week, 87% expressed support for a three-day strike, with the potential for further strikes.
On Thursday, Kelley Moult, leader of the union salary bargaining team, said members voted to accept an offer by management of a 6% increase in salaries.
“But we have not yet signed the agreement because we are still negotiating on non-salary aspects of the agreement relating to academic workload, conditions of service, and task teams to investigate various areas of mutual interest,” she said.
Moult added that they were expected to meet with management on Friday to discuss the outstanding items.
UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola, however, would not confirm the proposed offer.
He said the university’s engagements with any of the recognised unions over bargaining-related issues were governed by the principle of confidentiality.
“Engagements with the Academics Union are continuing, and UCT wishes to uphold this principle of confidentiality. To this end, UCT has approached the ongoing engagements with the AU on the bargaining front in a collegial and respectful manner, and we wish to maintain that going forward,” he said.
Meanwhile, GroundUp reported on Thursday that negotiations between UCT’s Employees Union and management reached a deadlock on Thursday.
With 1 200 members, this is the largest representative body at the university, and is the union for non-academic staff responsible for administration, technical work and management.
The union’s Samuel Chetty told News24 they would be embarking on a strike.
“We will be approaching the CCMA, and we will be issued with a strike certificate within the next 14 days,” he said.
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