Trade unions have rejected Eskom’s offer of a 4.7% wage hike.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa)‚ National Union of Mineworkers (Num) and Solidarity said in a joint media statement on Wednesday that they had made a counter-proposal to Eskom that would meet their wage demands and rescue the power utility from its financial crisis.
“We will not divulge details of the proposal we made to Eskom because this is delicate process. We want to avoid a situation where we bargain through the media.”
The unions met with Eskom on Wednesday for a second day of wage negotiations. The power utility will give feedback on the proposal that unions made on Wednesday.
On Tuesday‚ Eskom offered a four-year wage deal with a guaranteed increase based on inflation. They are offering a 4.7% wage increase for 2018 and an inflation-based increase every year thereafter for the next four years.
The unions said: “If they give us positive feedback to our proposal‚ we may be able to take it back to our members for them to make the final decision on whether to accept the offer or not.”
Wage negotiations will resume on Thursday at 10am.
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