The country’s health workers will remain cash-strapped as the government struggles to meet its massive public sector wage bill
If the union accepts the latest salary deal from the government, nurses, cleaners and porters in state hospitals will have less money than last year – as happened in the financial years 2022 and 2020, according to an analysis of data from the public department. service and administration.
In the state’s final offer, the workers will get a 3.3% increase compared to their salaries in the 2022/2023 financial year (which ends on March 31), said Oomang Parag, spokesperson for the Public Service Coordination Consultative Council.
Inflation was 7% in February, according to Statistics South Africa.
Civil servants have also received a cash allowance of R1 000 (after tax) from the government from 2021. Until now, this cash payment has not been added to the figure used by the state when calculating how much to pay into people’s pension funds (which is usually 13% of a person’s “pension” salary , on top of the 7.5% that the workers contribute each month themselves).
But the new deal says that from April 1, this amount will be part of the math, which will be a larger pension contribution from the state. It will also create a higher starting point for future negotiations, said the public service department.
On average, cash payments represent 4.2% of civil servants’ salaries. From now on added to the 3.3% increase in basic pay, the government says workers will get a 7.5% pay rise in total.
“death strike”
Negotiations on salaries for the next financial year (April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024) are taking place against a tense background.
In March, members of the National Union of Health and Allied Workers (Nehawu) led a strike over pay for the current financial year, which ends on March 31. They wanted a 10% salary increase for 2022/2023, but the government only gave them 3%.
The strike claimed the lives of four people according to the government, but the chaos did not affect salaries. The strikers’ wages will also be reduced for each day they are off work between March 6 and 17 under a “no work, no pay” agreement between the government and the union.
In the end, even the promise to end the strike (that the state would continue to talk to Nehawu about their demands) failed, according to union spokesperson Lwazi Nkolonzi.
He said: “The government has rejected the strike settlement agreement on 2022/2023 pay.”
Why is the country hesitating?
South Africa just can’t pay the salaries it wants.
The government is trying to contain the huge public sector wage bill.
In relation to the size of its economy, South Africa spends more on paying public sector workers than most other countries. By 2021, the combined cost of government employee salaries is equal to 14.8% of all goods and services produced in the country that year (gross domestic product, or GDP).
Other middle-income countries such as Mexico, India and Russia have public sector wage bills of less than 10% of GDP.
So, what do nurses, porters and cleaners earn in South African state hospitals? We looked at government salary data to see how salaries have changed over the years.
Nurse income
Among full-time professional nurses working in government hospitals, those performing community service are paid the least.
Professional nurses study for four years and then have to do a year of compulsory community service after graduation. There are also three other categories of nurses working in government hospitals and clinics – specialist nurses, staff nurses and nursing assistants. Specialist nurses are professional nurses who have a postgraduate degree in a specific specialty, such as cancer care or psychiatric care. Staff nurses and nursing assistants work under the supervision of professional nurses.
Staff nurses are qualified to perform more complex tasks than nursing assistants. They can treat broken bones, for example, something that nursing assistants are not allowed to do.
At the moment, the government pays professional nurses doing community service R220 347 a year (which works out for R18 362.25 a month), according to data from the department of public services and administration, and Nursing Managers in tertiary hospitals, the highest paid position. , R1 117 236 years (of which R93 103 months).
According to Moses Mushi, the spokesperson of the public service and administration department, this figure includes allowances like medical and housing allowances, so the basic take-home pay is lower than this.
However, all workers also receive an allowance of R1 000 per month (after tax), which is not included in the annual salary figure according to Mushi.
The salary range for staff nurses and nursing assistants is lower. A staff nurse, who studies towards a two-year diploma, will get between R179 172 and R311 361 a year from the government, while a nursing assistant, who has a one-year qualification, will get between R138 549 and R240 777. Again, this worker also gets R1 000 monthly allowance.
Although there is a wide gap between the salaries of different categories of nurses, what is common to them is that when accounting for inflation, these workers will earn less than the previous year in two of the last three financial years. That would be three out of four if the unions accept the government’s current offer.
Break a promise
In 2018, the treasury announced a three-year wage agreement for a large group of civil servants including nurses, state lawyers and engineers.
The government stuck to the agreement for the first two years, but then backed out in the third year. This angered the unions, including Nehawu, who accused the state of lying to them.
The agreement states that from April 2018, the highest paid public service workers will get a 6% wage increase, while the lowest will get 7%. This exceeded the expected inflation of 5.5% and was higher than the last inflation (it stood at 4.5% in the month).
For the next two years (2019 and 2020), more senior workers (such as middle managers) will receive an annual salary increase in line with inflation, while less senior staff (such as nurses not in managerial positions) will receive it. 1% above inflation, the treasury statement said.
Wages increased by the amount promised in 2018, the first year of the agreement. For example, a community service nurse had a pre-tax annual income of R185 478 in 2017, which increased by 7% to R198 462 in 2018.
It continues smoothly in 2019. For example, community service nurses saw their annual salary increase by 6.2% to R210 768 (other nurses-lower salaries saw their salary increase by the same percentage).
The cost of products and services has increased by 4.4% in that period compared to the previous year (this is called consumer price inflation). It is expected to increase by 5.3%.
Mean wage increases for this group were 1.8 percentage points higher than actual inflation for April.
But things took a turn for the worse in 2020, the final year of the agreement.
In the midst of the financially crippling COVID pandemic, the government has failed to keep its promises, and has failed to raise wages at all (the government says workers will get medical and housing benefits, although government salary data does not show this). This is despite the fact that inflation is at 3%.
For some nurses, their pay continues to decrease year after year.
In July 2021, they will receive a 1.5% wage increase, as well as a monthly allowance (not subject to pension cuts) of between R1 220 and R1 695, depending on the salary level. According to Mushi, the stipend is equal to R1 000 a month after tax for everyone.
Since community service nurses earn R210 768 a year in 2020, and receive a monthly stipend of R1 220, the stipend represented approximately 7% increase. Combined with the baseline increase, they received an 8.5% wage increase overall. This is more than the inflation at the time, which was at 4.6%.
In contrast, higher paid nurses such as nursing managers in tertiary hospitals earn less than inflation for the year.
They will earn at least R949 482 a year in 2020 and will receive a monthly stipend of R1 450 for 2021, which means the stipend has increased by 1.8%. Along with a 1.5% increase in their pension, they got a 3.3% wage increase – well below inflation.
In October 2022, things change again as the government increases pensions by 3%, lower than the rate of consumer price increases (7.6%). The state has also increased the stipend (which was initially only planned for 2020/2021), which remains at R1 000 after tax.
Porter and cleaner
Porters and cleaners working in the government have similar experiences to nurses.
Job advertisements for hospital porters and cleaners (who work in government-run offices) usually classify the position as a “salary level 2” role in the “non-occupational special dispensation (OSD) worker” category.
The OSD was created to retain skilled professionals in government service by ensuring that they receive salary increases commensurate with their specific skills and experience. This system is supposed to ensure that people can design a career path that works for the country, and to ensure that they can make a profit even if they are not in management.
Non-OSD workers, such as porters and cleaners, qualify for annual increases to compensate for inflation and bonuses, but must work for a certain period of time (at least 12 years) before they can be promoted to the next pay bracket. .
How much can a person in both non-OSD salary levels earn?
Service and administration department data shows that salaries at this level are between R107 196 and R126 270 before tax is paid (supervisors and foremen are at a higher salary level and earn more). On top of this, they also get a R1 000 monthly post-tax stipend.
Job ads usually offer a minimum amount.
For example, there is currently a porter vacancy at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, advertised at R107 196 per annum before tax.
A person on the lowest salary level in this position will therefore request R8 933 a month plus a cash payment of R1 000 from the government, with the salary also including benefits such as pension contributions, medical assistance and housing allowance.
For the past three years, job adverts have shown that porters and cleaners have seen the same wage changes as nurses – they will not get a pay rise in 2020. in the 2020/2021 financial year as in 2019/2020 – that is, R102 534 per year before tax.)
But in 2021, they get a 1.5% increase, along with additional non-pension benefits. Since his salary is R102 534 a year for 2020, the R1 220 monthly allowance is a 14.3% increase in his salary. Combined with the baseline increase, it comes to an overall increase of 15.8%.
Like other public sector workers, they will then receive a 3% increase in their pensionable salary in 2022, along with the continuation of their stipend.
In the 2021/2022 financial year, the advertisement shows pensioners will receive up to R104 073 (an increase of 1.5%), although they will also receive an additional R1 220 stipend this time. The following year it rose by 3% to R107 196.
In short, like nurses, those who do these jobs have also seen pay cuts over the past two years.
This story is produced by Check out the Center for Health Journalism. Register for bulletin.