Wage Negotiations 2015 (Update 7/2015)

This is an update on the current status of the wage negotiations.

The 4th round of wage negotiations, which was originally scheduled for 17-19 June 2015, has now been cancelled. This is due to the fact that one of the parties declared a dispute.

This means that wage negotiations will now proceed as a formal dispute. This process will be as follows:

• The bargaining council must appoint a conciliator who must convene a conciliation meeting.
• The conciliator must resolve the dispute within 30 days.
• If the dispute is resolved, a settlement agreement will be signed and that will end the process.
• If the dispute is not resolved, or if 30 days run out, then the conciliator must issue a certificate of non-resolution.
• Once such a certificate is issued, the trade unions must decide whether to go on strike or refer the matter to a binding arbitration.

As can be seen from the above, this is a much more formal process with stricter deadlines and legal consequences. Should the negotiations not be resolved in this dispute process and a certificate of non-resolution is issued, as explained above, IMATU members will be consulted on the way forward.

The parties are still in the process of finalising a date for the conciliation meeting and agreeing on the appointment of the conciliator. Members will be updated once the meeting is scheduled and a conciliator is appointed.