Cape Town – The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) are not backing down in their demand for a 15% wage hike at Eskom.
This is after Eskom said it was not in a position to offer the wage increases of 15% and tabled an offer of 1.5%.
The power utility said it was expecting to incur a loss of R15 billion this year.
Eskom has been suffering losses in the past few years as it battles load shedding and governance issues in the past.
But the unions said they stood by their demands of 15% increases and housing allowance hikes.
“One of our core demands is a 15% wage increase but Eskom has offered only 1.5%.
“And when one analyses the offer it is clear that this is a section 189 restructuring process under the guise of wage talks, because the measly 1.5% increase which Eskom is offering is conditional upon workers accepting changes to their benefits and conditions.
“We reject this with the contempt it deserves.
“We are also demanding an increase in housing allowance, and the closing of the apartheid wage gap.
“We demand an increase in maternity leave from 5 months and 7 days to 6 months and other improvements on conditions of service,” said the NUM and Numsa in a joint statement.
Political Bureau