NUPSAW Slams GEMS’ Greed and Rallies Workers to Stand Together Against Shameless Exploitation
The National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (NUPSAW) strongly condemns the continued greed, arrogance and blatant exploitation of public service workers by the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS). The latest premium increases and the Board’s insistence on imposing unaffordable contribution hikes amount to nothing but daylight robbery of workers who are already suffocating under the rising cost of living.
Despite clear rejection by organized labour and repeated calls for meaningful relief, GEMS continues to advance profit-driven interests at the expense of workers’ health, dignity and survival. These unjustified increases are an assault on collective bargaining outcomes and a direct attack on the working class. It is unacceptable that public servants, who keep this country running under extremely difficult conditions, are now being punished through unaffordable medical aid contributions.
NUPSAW rejects with contempt the narrative that these increases are unavoidable. The reality is that GEMS has failed to contain administrative costs, curb executive excesses, and prioritize the interests of members. Instead, workers are being forced to carry the burden of poor management decisions, inflated reserves and a system that appears more concerned with protecting surpluses than protecting lives.
We further condemn the rubber-stamping of these increases while workers are struggling to afford food, transport, electricity and basic necessities. Many public servants are now being pushed to the painful choice between healthcare and survival – a situation that is both immoral and inhumane.
At our last National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held in November, NUPSAW resolved to embark on a massive national campaign against the unjust and excessive contribution increases imposed by GEMS. This campaign was temporarily halted in good faith following engagements between the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) and GEMS, in the hope that meaningful relief for workers would be secured. However, it has now become painfully clear that GEMS is determined to undermine and exploit workers by all means necessary, showing utter disregard for their economic realities and well-being.
NUPSAW will not stand by while workers are pushed deeper into financial distress. We remain resolute in defending public service workers and will intensify our mobilization efforts to ensure that this daylight robbery is confronted head-on, and we demand the following:
An immediate halt to unaffordable contribution increases
A full review of GEMS’ reserve policies and administrative expenditure
A reduction in executive salaries and Board fees
Transparent engagement with organized labour, not cosmetic consultations
Real, tangible relief for workers.
NUPSAW will not stand by while workers are robbed in broad daylight. We therefore call on all organized labour formations, progressive unions, and working-class structures to close ranks and mobilize workers across the country against this exploitation. The time for polite engagements has long passed. We must expose and confront GEMS’ profit-driven agenda and defend the working class from being milked dry under the guise of so-called sustainability.
~ENDS~
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General Secretary Solly Malema 082 323 2958