Unions ask for Eskom wage talks with Gordhan and Nene
Marathon talks late into Tuesday night failed to reach a final agreement, but the NUM has stepped back from its strike threat
Trade unions have requested a meeting with the finance and public enterprises ministers and Eskom's board, to fast-track wage negotiations. Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan's intervention ended an earlier stalemate when Eskom was offering no increase for 2018. Although the unions have agreed to take Eskom's latest wage offer of 7.5% in 2018 back to members, they said they wanted to speak directly with the power utility's shareholders as they seek an intervention in the difficult talks. The offer also includes a 6.5% increase in 2019 and and 6.25% in 2020. Marathon talks that lasted for 13 hours on Tuesday may have narrowed the gap between the parties, but they remained bogged down by demands over housing allowances and bonuses. Eskom management told unions they were still waiting for audited financial statements in order to make proposals on bonuses, while they offered inflation-targeted housing allowance increases. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has confirmed it ...
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