The University of Cape Town staff unions have reached agreement on a wage deal after a strike last week.
The University of Cape Town (UCT) and professional, administrative, and support service (PASS) staff unions have reached an agreement after two days of strike action over salary increases last week.
Workers in a wide range of pay classes and positions including administrative staff, technical officers, cleaners, and catering workers, were represented by three unions; the UCT Employees Union (UCTEU), the Democratised Transport Logistics and Allied Workers’ Union (DETAWU), and the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU).
Staff went on strike after demanding a 7% salary increase instead of the 3.5% offered. A memorandum was handed over to vice-chancellor Mosa Moshabela, who committed to engaging with the unions within 48 hours.
An agreement was reached on Friday, 27 February.
Fabian Botman, UCTEU spokesperson, said in addition to the increase, a once-off bonus would be paid to staff across pay classes.
PASS staff were disappointed with the increase, he said. But progress had been made on other issues.
He said the university had agreed to consider a promotion policy for the PASS staff.
In their media statement during the strike, the three unions said the academic staff “benefit from a structured and formalised promotion framework” and PASS staff also want a “consistently applied framework that provides clearer progression opportunities”.
He said the university had agreed to resolve the issue of a single bargaining forum, unifying PASS staff and academic staff, by December 2026.
Formerly, there were three bargaining forums at UCT, for pay classes 2 – 7 (represented by NEHAWU and DETAWU), pay classes 7 – 12 (represented by the UCTEU), and the Academics’ Union. In 2024, the two PASS staff bargaining forums were unified.
The university also agreed to waive the “no work, no pay” principle for the strike and instead staff would take two days of annual leave, Botman said.
UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola confirmed an agreement had been reached but did not want to give details.
UCT said in a statement said details of the agreement “will be shared in due course”.
“This agreement brings to an end two days of picketing action by staff on campus,” the university said.
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The #EndChildMarriage movement seeks to raise awareness and combat child marriage in South Africa.
Bad Beh8Vior
Diary of an Englishman after he moves to South Africa….
**August 1**: Just got transferred with work from London, UK to our new home in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, South Africa. Now this is a town that knows how to live! Beautiful, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. I watched the sunset from a deckchair by our pool yesterday. It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my new home. I love it here.
**September 1:** Really heating up now. It got to 31 today. No problem though. Living in air-conditioned home, driving air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I’m turning into a sun-worshipper – no blasted rain like back in London! Had the back yard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. No more mowing lawns for me! Another scorcher today, but I love it here. It’s Paradise !
**October 1:** The temperature hasn’t been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s windy though. Keeps the flies off a bit. Acclimatizing is taking longer than we expected. Fell asleep by the pool yesterday. Got third degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed three days off work. What a dumb thing to do. Got to respect the old sun in a climate like this!
**October 25:** This wind is a bastard. It feels like a giant fucking blow dryer. And it’s hot as hell! The home air conditioner is on the blink and the repair man charged R200 just to drive over and tell me he needs to order parts from @#$# Johannesburg. The wife & the kids are complaining.
**October 30:** The temperature’s up around 40 and the parts still haven’t arrived for the fucking air conditioner. House is an oven so we’ve all been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bleeding R4 million house and we can’t even go inside. Why the hell did I ever come here?
**November 4:** Finally got the fucking air-conditioner fixed. It cost R1,500 and gets the temperature down to around 35 degrees. Stupid repairman. Fucking thief. If one more smart bastard says ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I’m going to fucking throttle him. Fucking heat! By the time I get to work, the car radiator is boiling over, my fucking clothes are soaking fucking wet and I smell like baked cat. Fucking place is the end of the Earth.
**November 9:** Tried to run some errands after work, wore shorts, and sat on the black leather upholstery in my car. I thought my fucking backside was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh, all the hair on the backs of my legs and off my fucking behind. Now the car smells like burnt hair, fried bum and baked cat. The Weather report might as well be a fucking recording – hot and sunny. Hot and sunny, Hot and fucking sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 bleeding months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Fuck!!
**November 15:** Doesn’t it ever rain in this darn place? Water restrictions will be next, so my R5,000 worth of palms might just dry up and blow into the fucking pool. The only things that thrive in this hell-hole are the fucking flies. You don’t dare open your mouth for fear of swallowing half a dozen of the little buzzards!
**November 20:** Welcome to HELL! It got to 45 degrees today. Now the air conditioner is gone in my car. The repair man came to fix it and said, ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I wanted to shove the car up his backside. Anyway, had to spend the R2,500 of the mortgage payment to bail me out of jail for assaulting the stupid fool. Fucking PHALABORWA! What kind of sick, demented idiot would want to live here!
**December 1:** WHAT!!!! The FIRST day of Summer!!!!
You are fucking kidding me, right?
esquire
The only way to know that small things irritate is when you share a room with a mosquito at night.