PHUTI MOSOMANE
ON Friday three trade unions signed a three-year wage agreement that will see Eskom employees receiving salary increases of 7% per annum.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), Solidarity, and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) signed the wage agreement which was negotiated at Eskom’s Centralized Bargaining Forum.
The three year agreement is valid from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2026. The wages will be increased by 7% per annum across the board for the three years.
This year’s increase will be effective from 30 June and will be implemented in terms of Eskom’s remuneration principles.
NUMSA National Spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said part of the agreement includes a housing allowance which will be increased by 7% per annum for three years.
Hlubi-Majola said Eskom agreed to pay a once off taxable payment of R10 000 to all employees for two years.
For the next 12 months, the unions and Eskom have further agreed to discuss income differentials and salary disparities and moratorium on the closure of power stations.
NUMSA General Secretary Irvin Jim said the agreement is a victory for workers at Eskom who have been denied meaningful increases since the 2016/2017 financial year.
“We are coming from a dark period where Eskom was led by the racist, clueless Andre De Ruyter who plunged the country into rolling blackouts, because of his refusal to drive quality maintenance at power stations.”
“We are in the process of trying to recover and repair what was destroyed during Andre de Ruyter’s tenure. At the same time, the same Andre De Ruyter, tried to collapse centralized bargaining by imposing a 1.5% increase on the workforce. But he refused to intervene on Eskom’s true cost drivers, namely, coal costs, Renewable Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP) and diesel costs,” Jim said.
He said De Ruyter wanted workers to pay for Eskom’s financial challenges and used them as a scapegoat for his glaring failures to motivate workers, and to drive a program to increase the Energy Availability Factor at the power utility.
Jim said the agreement is a sign of an improvement in the relationship with Eskom.
“We want to continue on this path. And part of our contribution is the signing of a multi-year agreement so that there is labour stability. This will allow workers at Eskom to focus on quality maintenance, without interrupting that process with annual wage talks.
“We promised South Africans that we would do everything in our power to prevent a repetition of last year where workers were provoked into picketing and protesting at power stations,” he said.
Commenting on the wage agreement, Eskom’s acting Group Chief Executive, Calib Cassim, said: “The collective agreement will go a long way in stabilising our organisation by providing Eskom with sufficient space and time to collaboratively work together to urgently address our most pressing challenges.”
“It is worth noting that this is the first time in more than a decade that the parties have reached agreement in the room.” added Cassim.
INSIDE POLITICS
