The National Union of Mineworkers said on Saturday it was considering a wage offer from Eskom after marathon talks the previous day to try to avert a strike that could hit mining production.
”We have an offer of 10,5% that we are seriously considering and we believe that it has all the potential to avert a strike,” National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) chief negotiator Paris Mashego told Reuters.
”However, the deal breaker was the housing allowance. We have not achieved a housing allowance, what we have achieved is a process of reviewing the entire housing policy of Eskom. We are going to our members [with the offer],” Mashego said.
Unions would announce on Wednesday whether or not they were pressing on with the strike, he added.
The threat of power cuts linked to a possible strike next week helped drive up prices of platinum and palladium this week and weakened the rand sharply amid investor worries about further pressure on a economy mired in recession.
The NUM, representing about half of the employees at Eskom, as well as smaller unions Solidarity and the National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa) want a 14% wage hike — about double the inflation rate — and more housing allowance.
They have rejected the power utility’s latest offer of an 8% increase, as well as a 9,5% raise proposed by mediators, but say they could settle for a double-digit pay increase plus the promise of a housing allowance for next year.
Eskom generates 95% of South Africa’s electricity and 45% of Africa’s power output.
The three unions involved in talks with the utility say they have agreed to hold joint mass action this coming week, including a march on Eskom’s headquarters on Thursday, if the wage and housing dispute is not resolved.
Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said on Friday he was confident a deal could be reached to avoid a strike, but that the firm had contingency plans to deal with any work stoppage.
Blackouts early last year temporarily crippled mine output, metal smelters and manufacturing, denting economic growth. – Reuters