By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
State owned power utility Eskom has agreed to a 7% salary increase for all non-managerial employees over a three-year period, effective from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2026, following wage negotiations.
The negotiations involved Eskom the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) and Solidarity.
It comes as the utility is implementing electricity cuts, leaving households and businesses in the dark for up to 10 hours a day, as it struggles with breakdowns at its coal-fired generating units.
“The collective agreement will go a long way… to collaboratively work together to urgently address our most pressing challenges,” Eskom acting Chief Executive Officer Calib Cassim said in a statement after the deal was signed.
“It is worth noting that this is the first time in more than a decade that the parties have reached agreement in the room,” said Cassim.
Eskom will also increase its housing allowance to workers by 7% over the next three years, and pay a once-off taxable payment of R10 000 for the first two years.
The utility needs to procure new grid capacity from renewable and other sources and needs labour buy-in for plans to unbundle the SOE into three separate units — a measure that has faced resistance from unions.
With the grim prospect of the power outages reaching stage 8 this winter, the potential for labour flare-ups at least has been nipped in the bud.
In its statement on the settlement, the NUM said it had also noted and welcomed the improvement in the Eskom generation fleet. “We have observed that since the departure of the COO Jan Oberholzer there is a reduction in load shedding stages.
The NUM is on record saying that the position of the COO was unnecessary, it was not informed by business need but accommodating an individual”.