THE Bargaining Council for the Civil Engineering Industry (BCCEI) has announced the signing between all parties in the sector of a three-year settlement agreement with respect to wages and conditions of employment.
The settlement will come into force when it is promulgated by Minister of Labour Mildred Oliphant later this year.
In a statement released on Monday, 18 June 2018, the BCCI said the negotiations were “characterised by a deep understanding by all parties of the pressure under which the civil engineering sector has been operating for the last few years”.
The employers were represented by South African Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors (SAFCEC) and Consolidated Employers’ Organisation (CEO) and the employees by the Building Construction and Allied Workers Union (BACWU) and National Union of Mine Workers (NUM).
The parties agreed to a 7.5% wage increase across the board for the first and second year. The increase for the third year will be 7.5% or CPI , whichever is the greater.
“Negotiations began in the last week of March 2018, and what is significant is that during negotiations real industry issues were dealt with,” the BCCEI said.
The BCCEI is a sector specific bargaining council created in terms of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA), and it responsible for overseeing the funds and benefits administration, compliance, enforcement and exemption of the various Collective Agreements concluded within the BCCEI.