The two largest unions at Eskom have distanced themselves from the crippling illegal industrial action that resulted in the troubled power utility ramping up load-shedding at the weekend.
The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which represent most of Eskom’s workforce of about 42,300 workers, told Business Day on Monday they were not behind the unprotected strike, but gave tacit approval for it, saying they understood the workers’ struggles.
That followed Eskom calling on striking employees to put the people of SA first and desist from unlawful and undemocratic conduct, after wage talks hit a deadlock last week.
Helgard Cronjé, Solidarity’s deputy general secretary for the public sector, said the union’s members were not part of the strike “as we respect the fact that it is an essential service and that strike action would be illegal”.
Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola told Business Day on Monday that the union had noted the protests taking place at various Eskom power stations. On Monday, the SAPS was called in to help the utility’s security personnel maintain order at eight power stations.
“This is not a Numsa protest nor a strike. However, it is important to point out that we understand the anger of workers. Their anger is as a result of Eskom’s provocation. Eskom provoked them into going into these protests,” she said.
“They simply refused to engage in wage talks with us, they walked out of wage talks,” Hlubi-Majola said, calling on Eskom to go back to the negotiating table. “Eskom started this strike. Only Eskom can end it by engaging workers and making a meaningful offer.”
On Sunday, the utility said the labour dispute resolution process must be allowed to run its course without illegal acts of intimidation and damage to property. “Eskom will consider all legal options at its disposal for damage caused or incited by union representatives,” it said in a statement on Sunday.
Eskom provides an essential service and therefore industrial action is not permitted, but this has not stopped workers from embarking on a strike.
If the unprotected strike continues unabated it could result in Eskom struggling to power the struggling economy, which has been trying to recover from Covid-19, the 2021 July unrest and recent flooding that hit three provinces.
On Friday, Eskom was granted a court order stopping the unprotected industrial action at about nine of its power stations and facilities.
The company, which is among several state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that were plundered during years of state capture, has been implementing rolling blackouts due to regular breakdowns at its ageing and poorly maintained coal-fired power stations.
Eskom, which has been described by ratings agencies as the single-biggest risk to the SA economy, had warned of increase risk of load-shedding after disgruntled employees downed tools after wage talks reached a deadlock last Tuesday.
Numsa and NUM initially demanded a one-year, 15% pay rise across the board, while Solidarity is demanding increases from 5.5% to 6.5% for its members in different job grades.
Numsa recently revised its demand down to 12%, while NUM is now demanding 10%, which is still well above the headline inflation rate of 5.9% the Reserve Bank forecasts for 2022.
Eskom, which is dogged by a debt of more than R390bn and has received about R240bn in government bailouts since 2008, has tabled a final settlement offer for increases of 5.3%, 4.5% and 4% for its 28,374 employees in the bargaining unit.
On Tuesday, the wage talks for the 2022/2023 financial year reached a deadlock at the central bargaining forum, a platform where the employer and unions discuss and reach agreement on wages and other conditions of employment, after parties could not find each other.
Eskom has said involved parties may take it upon themselves to declare a dispute with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
As a result of the unprotected strike, load-shedding was ramped up from stage 2 up to stage 4 from Friday, and it is expected to continue from 5am till midnight on Wednesday.
The utility said a sizeable number of people were not reporting to work. “As a result, unplanned generation losses have compelled Eskom to continue taking precautionary measures to conserve generation capacity and safeguard plant from damage. There is a possibility that the stage of load-shedding may have to change at short notice, depending on the state of the plant and the availability of labour.”
Eskom said about 4,000MW of generation capacity was at risk due to the illegal strike, adding: “Protracted strike actions may lead to further damage and prolonged delays to returning units to service, which would compound an already constrained power system.”
NUM general secretary William Mabapa told Business Day on Monday that the union was “ready to go down” from its revised position of a 10% demand.
Mabapa said while NUM did not call the strike, “Eskom must give us CPI plus 1%”.
Stats SA said last Wednesday that the consumer price index (CPI) rose 6.5% in May, breaching the Reserve Bank’s upper limit of 6%. This is the highest reading since January 2017, when the inflation rate was 6.6%, and well above market expectations of 6.2%.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.