Cosatu: Public servantsâ salary freeze an âinsultâ Share TRADE union federation Cosatu on Wednesday slammed the government and economists for pushing for a freeze of public servantsâ salaries. Commemorating International Nurses Day, the countryâs biggest federation described the governmentâs delay in improving its 0% offer to its employees as insulting. âThe failure by the government to pay nurses and other public servants their wage increases last year and the intransigent attitude they have adopted towards the current public service wage negotiations is regrettable and insulting, especially for the nurses that serve as front-line workers waging a war against a deadly disease,â Cosatu said in a statement.