Announcing the offer on Friday, Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini said the proposed cost of living adjustment (CoLA) would be with effect from the 2020/21 financial year.
“The government proposed a CoLA increase of not less than 3% in the 2020/21 financial year and possibly higher depending on the economic growth at that stage,” Dlamini said.
The offer was, however, rejected by the unions representing the more than 30,000 government workers who vowed to press ahead with the planned strike starting on January 28.
The workers are demanding a salary increase of at least 6.5%.
Spokesperson for the unions, Sikelela Dlamini, said it was all systems go for the strike on Monday and advised parents not to send the children to school for security reasons.
He said civil servants would not entertain the games that government was trying to play with them.
The strike action is being organised by the Public Sector Associations of Swaziland, an umbrella body comprising the Swaziland National Association of Teachers, Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel, Swaziland Nurses Association and the National Public Services and Allied Workers Union.