* No plans to revive labour action
* Possible agreement coming in next few days
By Jon Herskovitz
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 12 (Reuters) - South African workers who last month suspended industrial action will not sign a goverment wage offer by a Tuesday deadline but do not plan to resume strikes which hit schools and hospitals, a labour leader said.
Unions representing about 1.3 million state workers in September suspended a strike in order to consider a government offer for a 7.5 percent pay raise, about double the inflation rate, and 800 rand ($116) a month for housing. [ID:nLDE6851AA]
"There won't be any signing today because the majority of unions didn't have a mandate," Chris Klopper, a spokesman for the Independent Labour Caucus union federation, told Reuters.
Klopper said unions would discuss the implications of not signing with members and he expects there could be a change in positions within about a week.
"We are not going to resuscitate the strike and have it revived," he said.
The government will likely grant unions more time to consider the deal while workers stay at their jobs, government and union sources said.
DAMAGING STRIKE
The three-week strike through most of August cost the economy an estimated $150 million a day, damaged support for the president and led to millions of days of lost work at government offices, schools and hospitals. [ID:nLDE6961EI]
The unions are seeking an 8.6 percent raise and 1,000 rand a month for housing.
Any deal would likely swell state spending in Africa's largest economy by about 1 to 2 percent and put pressure on the government to consider tax increases and budget cuts.
The housing allowance sought by the unions will cost about twice as much as the government spends on environmental protection and nearly double the cost of a new plan to expand antiretroviral therapy in the country with one of the world's highest infection rates of HIV/AIDS.
The government needs a simple majority of striking workers to accept the deal to implement the wage raise package. At present, about 35-40 percent are supporting the deal, labour sources said.
The public administration ministry will not comment on the unions' decision until after the midnight deadline passes.
"We remain confident that the settlement offer will receive a majority of the 50 plus one percent," Dumisani Nkwamba, the spokesman for the public services minister, told Reuters. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz)