Khadija Magardie
On Thursday afternoon trade unions and electricity giant Eskom were still locked in negotiations as the electricity strike entered its third day.
This was despite a court victory for the unions on Wednesday: the Johannesburg Labour Court forced Eskom to withdraw its unilateral implementation of a wage increase of 7%.
The court ruled that the company had contravened labour legislation by changing the terms and conditions of employment without prior consultation.
There were protracted meetings all week involving labour, its employer and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
Although they described the court victory as a “vindication”, the unions were circumspect on whether they were close to a resolution.
According to Dumisa Ntuli, representative for the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, there was no clear indication that its constituencies had accepted the offer put on the table by Eskom late on Wednesday.
The union, with the Mine Workers Solidarity Union and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), is demanding an 11% salary increase for lowest-paid workers, a 9% increase for the highest-paid, as well as various concessions on working conditions.
Eskom has expressed “optimism” that the strike would soon end.
Its representative, Clarence Kwinana, said there were indications that both sides were close to a deal more so now that the wage offer had been “adjusted upwards”.
“One doesn’t want to be over-optimistic, but hopefully this matter is moving towards a resolution,” he said.
Ntuli said the union was awaiting a final mandate from its members over the wage offer, but said Eskom had agreed to and was considering various concessions. Among those agreed to is four months’ maternity leave for workers.
The strike has been generally peaceful, with marches taking place around the country.
Late this week there was an incident at Duvha power station in Mpumalanga, where police tear-gassed 800 striking workers protesting against the hiring of scab labour.
Eskom has dismissed reports that the strike has led to widespread power failures in certain parts of the country saying that essential services, including generation, trans-mission and distribution remained unaffected throughout the country.
Its CEO, Thulani Gcabashe, said the majority of workers at Eskom plants were performing their normal duties and that absenteeism was estimated at about 17% by late Wednesday.
NUM members at three major coal producers will go on strike this weekend following a collapse in wage talks.
A NUM strike ballot drew support for industrial action from 95 130 out of 96 723 workers.
A strike at gold mines, planned to start on Thursday, was postponed pending the outcome of further talks between the union and the Chamber of Mines.