Unions at Eskom on Thursday began drawing up an agreement that will give some workers the right to strike should wage talks fail.
”We’re not very optimistic [that we’ll get what we ask for] because the divide between what we’re demanding and their offer is very large,” said Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans.
Eskom was offering an ”unacceptable” 4% increase while unions wanted 15%. The parties were already halfway through the talks that were scheduled to conclude in June.
The minimum service agreement would detail the limitations regarding a strike and identify key staff members who could not join in a strike, said Kleynhans.
”We support the idea that you can’t just shut down the whole of Eskom because that will have a very negative effect on the country.”
He said Solidarity had between 7 000 and 8 000 members at Eskom. The other two unions involved were the National Union of Mineworkers and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa).
Numsa spokesperson Mziwakhe Hlangani said Eskom was still talking to its lawyers about the minimum service agreement.
Eskom spokesperson Fanie Zulu was not immediately available for comment. — Sapa