Cape Town - Cederberg Municipality municipal workers are demanding that the municipality pay them in accordance with a previous agreement.
The Cederberg Municipality and its 345 employees in 2020/21 entered into a 3-year wage deal that saw workers pocket a 4.9% increase, but the municipality reneged on the deal, leading to an arbitrator ordering the municipality to pay up.
Cederberg applied for exemption from paying the salary increases for the 2022/23 financial year.
The application was heard on August 19, with the arbitrator ruling in the union’s favour and ordering the municipality to implement the wage increases from July 1.
The Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) said yesterday that the municipality had not obeyed the order and that the union would take up the matter through an application to the SA Local Government
Bargaining Council for a compliance order against the municipality.
Two e-mails to the municipality went unanswered. Imatu regional manager Etienne Bruwer did not respond to queries.
Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell has come up with up a plan for the municipality through section 154 of the Constitution to address a R45 million debt to Eskom.
Bredell’s spokesperson, Wouter Kriel, had not responded to queries at the time of writing.