Financial Mail writes that Eskom and its three representative unions, namely the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and Solidarity, resumed their third and final round of wage negotiations this week.
While such talks usually involve some give and take by both unions and employers, the past two rounds have been particularly frustrating for the unions, which together represent about 27,000 skilled and semi-skilled workers at Eskom. Agility and professionalism on the part of management would seem to be noticeably absent so far. The unions’ observation is that, if the current wage talks are any indication of how the power utility is run, it’s no wonder it can’t keep the lights on. What has really stood out at the talks, as far as labour is concerned at least, is the poor quality of Eskom’s negotiators. “I must be honest, they are simply disorganised and unprofessional, for lack of a better way to put it,” NUM chief negotiator Olehile Kgware remarked. Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis said the process was “highly frustrating” and added: “It is as if they don’t understand wage negotiations, which they have been doing every year; they are ill-prepared and all over the place.” Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said much the same: “It is a mess, the bad management of Eskom is on full display.” A wage agreement seems far off. The largest union NUM is pushing for 11%, Numsa is seeking 15% and Solidarity is willing to consider an increase in line with inflation. Eskom is offering 4.5%. Eskom, for its part, said it was “incorrect” to suggest that it was unprepared and negotiating in bad faith. “We view these statements as a negotiation tactic that is used from time to time,” the utility commented. It does, however, remain optimistic that an amicable solution will be found.
- Read the full original of the interesting report in the above regard by Natasha Marrian at Financial Mail (subscriber access only)
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