The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is open to an inflation-linked pay rise for its members at Eskom instead of its initial demand for a 15% increase, a source at the union says.
Eskom initiated load shedding last week because of what the utility said was an "illegal protest action" by the NUM and two other unions.
The unions, who were incensed by Eskom’s initial refusal to offer pay rises for this year, had threatened a "total shutdown" of the power firm.
The NUM source, who did not wish to be named, said on Monday that the mineworkers’ union would consider a wage offer from Eskom of "inflation plus a certain percentage".
Consumer inflation was running at 4.5% in April, well below the level unions had initially targeted.
Cutting costs at troubled state-owned entities such as Eskom is a top priority for President Cyril Ramaphosa, and the labour dispute at Eskom will test the government’s commitment to reforms aimed at putting SA’s sluggish economy on a sustained growth path.
Eskom has said it could be forced to resume load shedding on Monday evening, as electricity demand is higher in the evenings during winter.
A potential stumbling block to the conclusion of a wage deal between Eskom and unions this week is that the NUM is scheduled to hold its national congress from Wednesday to Friday, when new union leaders will be elected.
But the NUM, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and Solidarity all agreed to resume talks on Tuesday, after Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said Eskom would offer an increase.
The three unions say they together represent more than half of Eskom’s 47,000 employees.
Deon Reyneke, deputy secretary-general of Solidarity, which represents mostly skilled workers, said Eskom had signalled to unions that it would be looking at a formula linked to consumer inflation for its next wage offer.
Numsa spokeswoman Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said the metalworkers’ union would not reveal its negotiating position until talks had started.
Eskom has now conceded that it will grant some increase in wages.
Asked about the NUM source’s comment on an inflation-linked increase, Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said the company’s management was still "crunching the numbers" ahead of the resumption of talks.
Phasiwe said Eskom had been able to return several generating units to the grid on Sunday as some workers had returned to work.
He said the utility, which narrowly avoided a liquidity crunch early this year, had sent a "positive signal" to employees by agreeing that a 0% salary increase was now off the table.
Reuters
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