Johannesburg - The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) will today refer its pay increase dispute with Eskom to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
This comes after the union on Friday declared a wage dispute with the power utility after both parties reached a deadlock.
The union demands a wage increase of 12 percent for the highest paid employees and a 13 percent wage increase for the lowest-paid employees. Eskom has offered an increase of 7 percent. The NUM also demands a one-year wage agreement and a housing allowance of R5 000 per month.
The union has accused Eskom of “dirty tactics” and an “arrogant attitude” during the wage negotiations. It said Eskom’s 7 percent offer was an insult. “Eskom’s attitude has been very hostile. There is no indication that the company does not have money,” NUM chief negotiator at Eskom, Helen Diatile, said yesterday.
In the year ended March 31, Eskom increased cash generated from operating activities by 36.4 percent to R37.2 billion. It increased revenue by 10.6 percent to R163bn, while net profit was R4.6bn, up from last year’s R200 million.
Proposals
Meanwhile, Eskom on Friday confirmed that it had issued a request for proposals for six million tons for the Hendrina power station in Mpumalanga.
“This is in preparation to the expiry of the current coal supply contract in 2018. As previously indicated, all coal contracts will be adjudicated through an open tender process. Put differently, it does not mean that the incumbent suppliers will get automatic renewal of their contracts, they have to compete on pricing with other bidders as per the regulations stipulated in the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act,” Eskom spokesman, Khulu Phasiwe, said on Friday.
Phasiwe said the 6 million tons for the Hendrina power station would only come into effect after 2018, “that is when the current contract expires”.
The new contract would run for 10 years, up to 2028 – which is the expected remaining life of Hendrina.
Tegeta Exploration and Resources, a company owned by the Gupta family’s Oakbay Investments, currently supplies coal to the Hendrina power station. Tegeta earlier this year bought Optimum Coal – which had a long-term coal supply contract with Eskom for Hendrina – from Glencore for R2.15bn.
Recently, Eskom has increasingly voiced its displeasure with the performance of collieries, which have long-term coal supply contracts with the power utility. It complained that some of the mines cannot meet agreed volume, costs and quality targets.
In the cost-plus contracts, Eskom pays for operating costs plus an ore-determined return-on-investment with mines owned by the coal miner.
“Eskom has no problem with long-term coal supply contracts for as long as they are fixed cost, indexed and do not require an upfront capital injection from Eskom. It is for this reason that Eskom does not have a problem with long-term coal supply contracts at Duvha, Matimba and Medupi,” Phasiwe said.
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