Unions make progress on Eskom’s latest offer but deadlock over members being charged
Date: Aug 9, 2018
The two largest unions at Eskom have allegedly accepted the revised wage offer in principle, but have deadlocked with the power utility, which wants to charge their members for participating in an unlawful strike, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa) met Eskom on Wednesday to report back, after consulting their members about the revised wage offer made last week under the auspices of a Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) intervention.
According to the latest offer, workers at the state-owned company (SOC) will receive 7.5% wage increases in 2018, 7% hikes in 2019 and 2020 and a R10 000 once off payment.
However, according to people involved in the talks, the unions cannot accept the offer while Eskom wants to charge their members for going on strike and have proposed that the workers instead receive a six-month written warning
Most workers at the power utility are deemed essential services and are barred from striking.
