by James Tweedie

SOUTH AFRICAN public-sector workers signed a three-year pay settlement yesterday, ending a seven-month dispute.

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), with some 235,000 members, announced yesterday afternoon that it had agreed to the government’s offer of a seven per cent pay rise along with other employee benefits.

Some 1.3 million workers from 18 unions had been in dispute with the government since late last year, demanding a 10 per cent increase.

Among the 18 were seven affiliates of the largets union federation Cosatu, including Nehawu.

Nehawu said that all the Cosatu unions and some of the other unions had also agreed to settle for the government’s latest offer.

The deal was for a pay rise of seven per cent in the first year with a guarantee of CPI inflation plus 1 per cent over the next two years.

Other concessions included an increase in housing allowances from 900 Rand (£49) to 1,200 rand (£65) per month, and increase in employer medical aid contributions from from 17.8 per cent to 28.5 per cent and new parental leave dispensation for fathers and those with disabled children.

Nehawu spokesman Sizwe Pamla said: “This year’s negotiations were difficult, long and intense with a lot of horse-trading in order to get to a reasonable package for public servants in the current economic climate.”

Public-sector unions walked out for a month in 2010, in one of the biggest strikes in South Africa’s history.