Fin24 reports that rival unions are reaching out to each other to unite against Eskom’s decision to close five coal power stations within five years.  

National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) general secretary Irvin Jim said on Sunday he wanted to engage with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on this issue.  “For the sake of the workers, we need to put our ideological differences aside to formulate a united strategy to fight this attack on workers,” he indicated.  NUM spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu welcomed the move and said on Monday that “NUM won’t have a problem with Numsa.  Workers must combine to fight a common enemy – the Eskom board – who wants to privatise Eskom.”  Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe said last week that at least two units of Komati power station had already been shut down to create space for renewable energy projects.  Criticising the move, Jim said the jobs of at least 6,000 workers were on the line.

• Read this report by Matthew le Cordeur in full at Fin24

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