Johannesburg - Unions have threatened to pull out of wage negotiations with Eskom should chief executive Andre de Ruyter fail to present his turnaround strategy to the bargaining council.
The unions said they would like to be part of the plans to turn around Eskom, but they have threatened to discontinue the talks should De Ruyter fail to meet their request.
The Star understands that the leaders of the National Union of Mine Workers (NUM), the National Union of Metal Workers of SA (Numsa) and Solidarity have all agreed that wage negotiations would not go ahead until they are addressed by De Ruyter.
Among other demands, the unions are asking for a 15% salary increase.
Wage negotiations at Eskom got off on a rocky start on Tuesday with the cash-strapped power utility rejecting most of the unions’ demands and instead tabling proposals aimed at changing the conditions of service.
“The unions met with the Eskom board to try to persuade the chairperson that De Ruyter should come and present the turnaround strategy and the financial position of Eskom.
“When negotiations started on Tuesday, De Ruyter was supposed to come but he did not come,” NUM spokesperson Livhuhani Mammburu said.
“The company has been hesitant for de Ruyter to come. He is a union basher and he hates us with passion,” Mammburu said. “We as NUM have never supported him ….”
He said he was shocked that there was still incidents of load shedding especially in townships but confirmed that NUM members at Eskom were not on a go-slow.
“We thought he would stop load shedding. We are worried that he is implementing more independent power producers (IPP) that are just looting from Eskom. Billions are spent on these IPPs, but we do not see load shedding stopping.”
Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said: “The trade unions can say what they want to say about anyone.
“The CEO of Eskom has met in a correct structure with the trade unions and presented the same turnaround strategy and the financial plan of Eskom, which is all public material.
“The CEO will address them outside the bargaining process on matters that are not relating to the bargaining process. The CEO has sent a fully authorised delegation to the bargaining talks to discuss wage issues and conditions of service.”
Mantshantsha denied that there was an increase in load shedding especially in townships, saying there was a difference between “load shedding and load reduction.”
The Star