CAPE TOWN: South Africa’s power utility said on Wednesday the Labour Court had granted it an interdict against a strike by its workers, meaning any industrial action would be deemed illegal and unprotected. “In addition, section 71(8) of the Labour Relations Act, employees working for essential service providers such as Eskom are not allowed to embark on any industrial action,” Eskom said in a statement. “Separately, Eskom and the three unions – namely NUM, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), and Solidarity are in discussions in an effort to find an amicable resolution on their wage demands.”
On Tuesday, the NUM announced that more than 15 000 of its members employed at Eskom would embark on a full blown strike in all nine provinces this week.
The unions’ demands include a wage increase of between 8.5% and 10%, while Eskom is currently offering between 7% and 9%. Eskom said it was hopeful that all the affected parties would reach a resolution soon. NUM was demanding a 10 percent increase for the lowest paid employees and 8.5 percent for the highest paid employees at Eskom, as well as a R3 000 housing allowance.
