Alternative plans have been made to keep the lights on across the country as Eskom workers plan to embark on potentially disruptive pickets this week. The power utility said on Tuesday it would "activate" its contingency measures in the case of industrial action. It did not say what these measures were. The uncertainty at Eskom follows the collapse of wage negotiations with organised labour, with the company saying it has no resources to hike wages in the face of union demands of 15% to 9%. If the power utility gets its way, its 47,000 employees will receive no pay adjustments or improvements to other conditions of service such as housing allowances and leave. Eskom is under pressure to deal with its excessive debt burden and its new management said it would focus on cutting costs as well as freezing posts, to ensure the survival of the power utility. Old foes the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) put on a united front on Tuesda...
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