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Num shop stewards gather to discuss the 7% Eskom offer.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has accepted a 7% wage offer tabled by Eskom management following a tense fourth round of wage talks. That is after months of deliberation at the Central Bargaining Forum, where the NUM originally demanded a 15% hike, alongside improved benefits.
One of the other unions at Eskom National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has already rejected the 7% offer.
NUM embarked on a mandate seeking exercise from its members following six months of wage talks at Eskom. The 130 national shop stewards, representing about 15,000 Eskom workers, deliberated on the 7% with Num Deputy President, Olehile Kgware, presenting an outcome in favour of the proposed wage hike.
“After a very robust engagement with stewards here and feedback was given of mandate from our members on branches, across the country, and NUM members are ready to accept the offer, therefore, we are accepting the offer on the table by Eskom, the final offer as it is,” says NUM Deputy President Olehile Kgware.
The current three-year wage agreement is set to expire in June, and the NUM says the apex priority is job security at the power utility.
“At the centre of our decision is job security, like I indicated earlier, is the driver of all of this, because we say what is important for us is the sustainability of Eskom. In the event we sign an agreement here, and get out of 10% here, and the next day, we are served with Section 189, Eskom does not survive, and members retrenched … how do we do that? So, we are signing this agreement to say, I have to put off our members. Yeah, their membership and their employment is key,” says Kgware.
In 2023, the parties settled at 7%, and the hope was that this time around, they would settle higher. Eskom has about 42,000 workers spread across the entity’s three divisions.
These workers say although they wanted more to help navigate the economy, they are satisfied with the 7%.
“The issue of 7% or whatever we are getting won’t change the fact that we are currently experiencing electricity hikes and petrol hikes, but what we are getting will go on and improve our lives and also our families for now,” says Eskom North East Region’s Ntshembo Malungani.
Eskom Matimba’s Tebogo Milazi says, “ It was not an easy one, but, however, at that point, we are saying victory is ours. Yes, we are accepting the victory of the offer. Amandla.”
Trade union, Solidarity, is yet to make its position clear on the 7% offer, as it is due to meet with its members for a mandate this week.
It now becomes a numbers game, with the second largest union at Eskom, Numsa, already indicating its rejection of the 7%.
The parties will meet at the Eskom headquarters, Megawatt Park, on Friday, with the hope of putting an ink to the multi-year wage increase of 7% that will go all the way into 2028.
