Johannesburg – Three unions – National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), and Solidarity – have rejected Eskom’s below-inflation wage hike offer.
In a joint statement on Friday, the unions said: “All the three unions have rejected Eskom’s wage increase offer of 3,75% because the offer is below the inflation rate of 7,1%”.
NUM, NUMSA, and Solidarity said they called on Eskom to sign a multi-year wage agreement of two years.
“Eskom has refused to go for a multi-year wage agreement saying the power utility is in dire financial constraints,” the joint statement said.
“Load-shedding has plunged the whole country into chaos and it cannot be business as usual, therefore a multiyear agreement makes sense under the circumstances.
“Eskom claims that it cannot afford the demands that unions are making. We reject that claim outright.”
Earlier this week on Wednesday, NUM, NUMSA, and Solidarity submitted their wage demands to the employer, Eskom.
However, the unions said: “Eskom has rejected our demands and further said that the conditions of services must remain unchanged”.
The 2023 Eskom wage negotiations with the unions began on 19 April 2023, at Cedarwood Park in Woodmead, Johannesburg, and will run over three rounds, up to the end of May 2023.
“We can confirm that all three unions at Eskom NUM, NUMSA, and Solidarity have submitted their wage demands to the employer and are currently participating in the 1st round of wage negotiations that started this week on Wednesday and will end today,” the unions said in their joint statement.
