“We signed and sealed the deal,” said SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago.<\/p>\n
“It is a 10% salary increase across the board – 8.5% now, [from August] and 1.5% to be paid in December, all of them back-dated to April 1.”<\/p>\n
Also, if the SABC makes an operational profit of R21m at the end of the 2009\/10 financial year, a once-off payment of R2 000 will be made to each employee next May, said Kganyago.<\/p>\n
“The SABC is happy that it has managed to find middle ground with all the unions and also re-iterates gratitude to those employees who pledged their support, stuck with the organisation and continued to perform their duties diligently through this difficult period,” he said.<\/p>\n
Workers, represented by the Communication Workers’ Union, the Broadcasting, Electronic Media and Allied Workers’ Union and the Media Workers Association of SA, wanted a 12.2% increase.<\/p>\n
The wage dispute saw SABC employees picketing across the country and some taking part in a national stay-away last month.<\/p>\n
The public broadcaster is said to be drowning in debt and is hoping for a R2bn bail-out from the government.<\/p>\n
An interim board has been appointed to try and deal with the problems.<\/p>\n