Cape Town – Eskom has reportedly tabled a 7% wage increase for its workers, up from the 5.3% it previously offered.
This comes after the utility met with labour unions – the National Union of Mineworkers (Num) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) – on Tuesday to discuss the wage deadlock.
According to EWN, talks between the unions and Eskom collapsed last week after the power utility offered workers 5.3%.
As a result, some of Eskom’s employees went on an unprotected strike.
Load shedding has been implemented at different stages since.
ALSO READ: Eskom strike: Unions call on workers to ‘normalise the situation’
In a joint statement, the unions said that the new offer will be tabled at the Central Bargaining Forum (CBF) on Friday.
If accepted by workers, the 7% offer would cushion workers against the effects of inflation which stood at 6.5% in May, said the report.
In the meantime, the unions have asked their members to return to work.
“NUM and Numsa can inform the public and our members at Eskom that the bilateral meeting this morning has registered considerable progress in that negotiations have been able to break new ground with a new offer, which will be tabled at the Central Bargaining Forum (CBF) this coming Friday, 1 July 2022.
“In light of these developments, we call on workers at Eskom to normalise the situation given that Eskom has returned to the negotiating table. We are calling on our members to give this process and the CBF meeting on Friday the necessary chance to settle the current dispute,” reads the joint statement.
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Compiled by Sinothando Siyolo
