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Eskom’s biggest unions distance themselves from illegal strike

Details

eskomBL Premium reports that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which represent most of Eskom’s workforce of about 42,300 workers, have distanced themselves from the crippling illegal industrial action that resulted in the troubled power utility ramping up load-shedding at the weekend.

They said on Monday they were not behind the unprotected strike, but gave tacit approval for it, saying they understood the workers’ struggles. That followed Eskom calling on striking employees to put the people of SA first and desist from unlawful and undemocratic conduct, after wage talks hit a deadlock last week. According to the utility, a sizeable number of people were not reporting to work. Meantime, Helgard Cronjé, Solidarity’s deputy general secretary for the public sector, said the union’s members were not part of the strike “as we respect the fact that it is an essential service and that strike action would be illegal”. On Monday, the SA Police Service (SAPS) was called in to help the utility’s security personnel maintain order at eight power stations. Eskom provides an essential service and therefore industrial action is not permitted, but this has not stopped workers from embarking on a strike. If the unprotected strike continues unabated it could result in Eskom struggling to power the struggling economy, which has been trying to recover from Covid-19, the 2021 July unrest and recent flooding that hit three provinces. On Friday, Eskom was granted a court order stopping the unprotected industrial action at about nine of its power stations and facilities.

  • Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
  • Read too, Illegal Eskom strikers picket at eight power stations, at BusinessLive


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