The proposal seen by Eyewitness News also made mention that government had made funding available to ensure the payment of the non-pensionable cash gratuity and pensionable salaries.
Government agreed to table a new offer when it did an about-turn after saying there would be a 0% wage hike due to lack of money from its purse.
This week, unions said that they would return to the negotiating table if government guaranteed that they would up their 0% wage increase offer and it appeared that they got their way.
Organised labour also warned that the new wage offer should not be restructured in a way that shifted money from other benefits to finance the salary hikes.
Government made no new offers to workers but did suggest a new approach.
Public sector trade unions and government representatives are meeting at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council on Monday afternoon following a deadlock of this year’s public service wage negotiations over a week ago.
Public Service and Administration Minister Senzo Mchunu insisted that he had ideas but needed the public to bolster it.
Government’s proposal to labour during the latest round of wage negotiations, which deadlocked, proposes a holistic redesign of the remuneration framework among others as it turned down most of the money-related demands by public servants.
The association which represents labour federations is now in the process of declaring a dispute after numerous attempts to find each other, with the employer, failed.
The Public Servants Association, one of the largest parties at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council, tabled a wage demand of over 7%, with government saying it cannot afford the demand.
If the government fails to give in to organised labour's demands for a hike of over 7%, unions have threatened to go on strike.
The Public Servants Association, which represents more than 235,000 public sector employees, said that it would act by Friday if its demands were not met.
As Treasury aims to cut R300 billion from the public sector wage bill, determining the sum to offer workers this year is undoubtedly a mammoth task.
National Treasury Director-General Dondo Mogajane said that the economy had to grow and freezing public servants' wages was not enough.
They include exploring getting rid of some allowances and benefits while reviewing pay progressions.
Ordinarily, trade unions from the different federations, including independents, consolidate their demands ahead of negotiations, however, this will not be the case this year.
Lawyers representing the finance minister are opposing the application by trade unions in the public sector who are requesting the court to force government to implement the agreement that would hike workers’ salaries by up to 5.4%.
The state and unions are battling it out in the Labour Appeal Court over government’s decision to unilaterally withdraw part of the agreement, which saw public servants not receiving salary increases in April.
