Organised labour says it won’t accept Eskom’s revised wage offer from 3.5% to 5.5% when pay talks resume from February 9 to 11, citing the power utility’s improved financial situation.
“We are not going to accept 5.5%. The previous wage offer was 7% each for three years. We will continue with negotiations in February. Yes, we are going to revise down our wage demand, but we won’t accept anything below 7%. The company is doing well now. They must give us a proper offer,” National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) energy sector co-ordinator Khangela Baloyi said. Eskom’s wage bill for 2025 was R43.1bn.
The three recognised unions at Eskom are the NUM, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), and Solidarity.
When the first round of talks got under way from November 25 to 27, Numsa and the NUM demanded a 15% across-the-board wage increase, while Solidarity demanded 10% or the consumer price index plus 4%, whichever is greater. The inflation rate is 3.6%. Solidarity energy sector co-ordinator Deon Jenkins has said the union wanted to negotiate a multiyear wage agreement.
The demands come as Eskom reported a profit after tax of R16bn for 2025, its first profit in eight years. Profit before tax was R24bn. The turnaround was supported by government debt relief, higher electricity tariffs and a significant decrease in load-shedding, which led to lower diesel costs.
Eskom received a R254bn relief package from the National Treasury in 2023 in a programme that enjoined local government to pay their dues to Eskom. Municipal arrears rose to R95bn from R75bn, with the state-owned company estimating the debt would grow to more than R300bn by 2030 if no sustainable solution were found.
On Friday, Numsa said it rejected the 5.5% revised wage offer, and its demands remained the same. Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to documents Business Day has seen, the NUM and Numsa were demanding a R7,000 housing allowance, a cellphone allowance (R1,500 for the NUM and R2,000 for Numsa), and an electricity allowance of R1,500 for the NUM and R2,000 for Numsa. The employer needed to contribute 80% to medical aid.
Eskom is being unbundled into three distinct entities responsible for generation, transmission and distribution as part of a major restructuring drive intended to improve efficiency in the electricity sector and open the door to greater investment.
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