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BL Premium reports that Eskom management has declared a dispute with unions over pay increases, setting up the talks for an independent meditation process at the CCMA, a date for which has not yet been set.
If no agreement is reached after conciliation, the commissioner will issue a certificate of non-resolution and the dispute may be referred to the labour court or to the CCMA for arbitration, where the commissioner will make a final and binding decision. The power utility provides an essential service and essential service workers are prohibited by law from striking. Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said on Wednesday the company had declared a dispute as it had not been able to reach an agreement with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and Solidarity, during round three of wage talks in the central bargaining forum. In May, the utility had indicated that its 5% wage increase offer — conditional on unions agreeing to a proposed downward variation of worker benefits including overtime pay, travel allowances and employee transfer costs — was final. Mantshantsha said the unions had rejected the conditions, “and instead placed demands for basic salary increases of 10%, 12% and 9.5%”, which were in addition to other demands. The NUM’s Khangela Baloyi said they viewed the Eskom dispute as a “declaration of war”. Solidarity’s Helgard Cronje said the union’s view was that “the affordability question is not as clear cut as Eskom is making it out to be”. He said the money Eskom spent on independent power producers and had lost to corruption “dwarfs the amount the employees bargaining unit are demanding”. Numsa’s Vuyo Bikitsha said Eskom’s conduct “flies against the spirit and letter of our recognition agreement ... We can say the road ahead will be bumpy.”
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
- Read too, Wage dispute at Eskom to go to mediator, at Mining Weekly
- And also, Eskom in loongeskil met vakbonde, at Maroela Media
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page