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Message: [QUOTE="Queen, post: 87415, member: 27"] A 9.8% medical scheme hike stacked on top of last year's 13.4% increase has public sector unions giving GEMS exactly seven days to back down or face mass action. COSATU unions slam the contribution spike [LIST] [*]Seven COSATU-affiliated unions rejected the 2026 GEMS contribution increase as unilateral and unaffordable. [*]GEMS bumped contributions by 9.8% from January, with a slight trim to 9.5% kicking in from April. [*]Combined with 2025's 13.4% hike, members are staring at a 23.3% two-year increase. [*]The Council for Medical Schemes had recommended a far more modest 3.3% average. [/LIST] Salary growth is nowhere close to keeping up [LIST] [*]Government workers only scored a 5.5% pay adjustment for the 2025/26 financial year. [*]The employer subsidy bumped just 4.5% for three months before cratering to 0.5% from April. [*]Current inflation sits around 3.6%, and GEMS blew past that by 6.5 percentage points. [*]Workers are literally choosing between groceries and school fees because of the gap. [/LIST] Seven unions are moving as a united front [LIST] [*]DENOSA, NEHAWU, SADTU, POPCRU, SAMATU, PAWUSA, and SAEPU all joined the fight. [*]COSATU President Zingiswa Losi called GEMS one of the most expensive scheme options available. [*]Pickets already went down in Durban and Pretoria this week. [*]A national day of action is on deck if the seven-day deadline passes without a reversal. [/LIST] Demands go way beyond just rolling back the hike [LIST] [*]Unions want a full forensic audit of GEMS governance and procurement. [*]Greater freedom for public servants to pick any medical scheme is on the table. [*]Some groups are demanding that the entire GEMS board and management resign. [*]Members are openly considering dropping coverage entirely, which is a dire sign. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]

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